Georgia Sued Again Over New Legislative Districts
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a lawsuit was filed challenging Georgia’s new legislative maps, which were signed into law on Dec. 30, 2021. The complaint, filed on behalf of a group of Black Georgia voters, argues that the new state House and Senate maps violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) because they dilute the voting strength of Black Georgians. This lawsuit follows a string of lawsuits against the new legislative and congressional maps filed since the maps were enacted.
The lawsuit alleges that the Republican-controlled Legislature diluted Black voting strength across state House and Senate districts in order to limit the number of districts in which Black Georgians can elect their candidates of choice, denying these voters an equal chance to participate in the political process. The complaint highlights the growth of Georgia’s minority population, particularly Black voters, and argues that the Legislature should have created five additional state House districts and three additional state Senate districts in which Black voters could elect their candidate of choice. Instead, according to the complaint, the Legislature chose to pack and crack Black voters across multiple legislative districts to weaken their influence, continuing the state’s long pattern of racial discrimination. The plaintiffs ask the court to block these maps and order the creation of new districts that comply with the VRA.