Georgia Sued Again Over New Congressional Map
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, another lawsuit was filed challenging Georgia’s new congressional map. The plaintiffs, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Georgia and individual voters, are specifically challenging three new districts for being racially gerrymandered in violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This lawsuit follows multiple others against Georgia’s new legislative and congressional districts that were filed immediately after Gov. Brain Kemp (R) signed the maps into law on Dec. 30, 2021.
The plaintiffs argue that the Republican-controlled General Assembly used race as the predominant factor in drawing the 6th, 13th and 14th Congressional Districts without any compelling reason. The complaint alleges that racial considerations dominated traditional race-neutral redistricting criteria during the map-drawing process, arguing that legislators focused on “packing Black voters in a manner not justified by the [Voting Rights Act] or cracking communities to prevent voters of color from electing candidates of choice.” The plaintiffs outline how this intentional use of race in the redistricting process “continues Georgia’s long history of racially discriminatory voting practices,” particularly against Black voters. The lawsuit asks the court to block the challenged districts from being used in future elections and order the creation of a new map that complies with the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.