Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp approved redrawn political maps that reconfigure the state’s congressional districts and state legislative seats ahead of the 2024 elections after a federal judge found the previous map by Republicans disenfranchised Black voters under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The three new maps, which include a focus on redistricting in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, passed 98-to-72 in the Georgia Assembly on Thursday in a vote that was mostly along party lines.
A Dec. 20 court hearing is scheduled for U.S. District Judge Steve Jones to review the new maps and potentially issue a ruling on their constitutionality.
This week, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, filed a request asking Jones to appoint a special master to reset the maps by Jan. 16 if the court determines the district lines do not comply with the initial order to redraw them.
Carr also emphasized the importance of nailing down the congressional maps in time for the 2024 election cycle, which kicks off with a presidential primary on March 12, followed by a general election primary on May 21.
Most notably, the newly crafted maps appear designed to ensure that Republicans maintain their 9-5 majority in the state’s U.S. House delegation while also keeping the GOP firmly in control of the state General Assembly.
In Georgia, where Black voters historically align with Democrats, the new maps indicated only modest gains for the party in the House and no advances in the Senate, which could potentially raise the ire of the judge as he considers whether to approve the maps.
By signing the three revised maps into law last Friday, Gov. Kemp met a critical deadline set forth by Jones when he struck down the first round of maps in October because, he said, they watered down Black voting power across the state while weakening Black representation on Capitol Hill.
In the ruling, Jones determined Georgia’s newly drawn district lines did not…
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