Georgia law targeting Democratic counties draws lawsuit over ‘political redlining’

Metro Atlanta district attorneys sued to block a new Georgia law that would strip party labels from district attorney and other local races in five Democratic-leaning counties, arguing the measure is an unconstitutional attack on Black and Democratic voters.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Fulton County challenging House Bill 369 (HB 369), which Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed into law last month. The law would make several county-level offices — including district attorney — nonpartisan beginning in 2028, but only in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

Those five metro Atlanta counties are among the state’s most populous and Democratic-leaning. They also have large Black populations and all have Black women serving as district attorney — a fact the lawsuit and voting rights advocates have pointed to as central to the law’s impact.

The challenge marks the opening of a major legal fight over whether Georgia Republicans can selectively remove party labels from local races in the very counties where Democratic candidates have built power. In practical terms, nonpartisan elections mean voters would no longer see whether candidates for certain local offices are running as Democrats, Republicans or members of another party.

Boston argues the law is not a neutral change, but a targeted political maneuver by the Republican-controlled Georgia General Assembly to obscure party affiliation in counties where Democrats currently hold most elected offices.

The lawsuit challenges HB 369 on three grounds. 

First, Boston argues the law violates Georgia’s Uniformity Clause, a state constitutional rule requiring laws to operate the same way across Georgia rather than changing the rules for only one area. Second, the lawsuit argues the law violates equal protection guarantees in the Georgia and U.S. constitutions, which require the government to treat people equally under the law. Third, the lawsuit claims lawmakers violated Georgia’s Rejected Bills Clause by reviving the same proposal after it failed in the Senate without taking the required two-thirds vote.

Voting rights advocates warned even before the lawsuit was filed that the law would weaken voters’ ability to make informed choices in some of Georgia’s most diverse Democratic strongholds.

“HB 369 is akin to political redlining,” Joel Alvarados, Partnership for Southern Equity vice president for strategy and engagement, said at a rally in April. “The same logic applies to this legislation. They are trying to tell the state that these five counties have problems. This is a way to dilute the political power in those counties.”

Meanwhile, Nichola Hines, president of the League of Women Voters Georgia, said that HB 369 “is not about improving democracy. It’s about changing the rules for five counties.”

Boston and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis previously signaled they would sue after Kemp signed the measure, saying the law was designed to give Republicans an advantage in Democratic counties.

“House Bill 369 is clearly unconstitutional, and we are appalled at Governor Brian Kemp’s decision to sign it into law,” the attorneys said in a joint statement. “This is a blatant attempt by Republicans to give their candidates an edge in Democratic counties by hiding their party affiliations from voters.”