- Plaintiffs suing to overturn Georgia’s congressional and state legislative districts have criticized Republican state lawmakers’ plans to address the dilution of Black votes while preserving GOP power.
- The Republican legislative leaders aimed to comply with Judge Steve Jones’ order, which included creating additional Black-majority districts.
- State leaders plan to argue that only districts consisting of one nonwhite group, like Black voters, are legally protected, challenging the notion of protection for coalition districts.
The people who sued to overturn Georgia’s congressional and state legislative districts on Tuesday attacked plans that Republican state lawmakers claim cure illegal dilution of Black votes while preserving GOP power, calling them a “mockery” of federal law and a “total failure of compliance.”
The three sets of plaintiffs in the case filed briefs with the federal judge who ruled in their favor in October, urging him to reject Georgia’s proposed maps and draw new voting districts himself in time for 2024’s legislative and congressional elections.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones has scheduled a Dec. 20 hearing on whether he should accept the plans. The state is supposed to file its defense of the plans next week.
GEORGIA’S REDRAWN CONGRESSIONAL MAP NEARS PASSAGE AS SPECIAL REDISTRICTING SESSION APPROACHES LIKELY END
Republican legislative leaders repeatedly said during a special legislative session that ended last week that their goal was to comply with Jones’ directive. He told lawmakers they had to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district, two additional Black-majority state Senate districts and five additional Black-majority state House districts.
But the plaintiffs on Tuesday, echoing arguments made by Democrats during the session, said the Republican maps don’t do enough to remedy problems in the particular districts that Jones found to be illegal under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits dilution of Black…
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