On Thursday, voting rights advocates returned to federal court to argue that Georgia‘s revised political maps continue to violate the rights of Black voters, despite lawmakers’ attempts to comply with a previous court order.
The outcome could reshape the state’s political landscape for years. If a three-judge panel agrees with the challengers, Georgia could be forced to adopt new district lines that better reflect the preferences of Black voters who often favor Democratic candidates.
Three separate lawsuits allege that, although state legislators added more majority-Black districts following a court mandate, they failed to correct the unconstitutional dilution of Black voting strength in specific areas identified during an earlier trial.
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In the case of the state Senate and House maps, the disputed region lies in Atlanta’s southern suburbs. For the congressional map, it’s northwest and north of downtown. Instead of redrawing districts where the original violations occurred, lawmakers created Black-majority districts in different parts of metro Atlanta.
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“Going to a different part of Atlanta to create opportunities for Black voters is not sufficient,” said Ari Savitzky, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is helping challenge the state legislative maps in an AP report.
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Attorneys defending the state say Georgia met the requirements laid out by a federal judge and that challengers are overstepping by trying to dictate precisely where new districts must be drawn. Stephen Petrany, Georgia’s solicitor general, dismissed the claims as politically motivated.
“Are these the right number of districts? Yes. Are they in the right area? Yes,” Petrany said. “That is the end of this case.”
Any decision from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals may be delayed until a separate legal matter is resolved. In that case, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is appealing a 2023 ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, who determined that the original maps drawn in 2021 violated the Voting Rights Act. Raffensperger argues that Jones’ decision should be overturned entirely, allowing the 2021 maps to remain in place.
Judge Jones previously ruled that the state had engaged in illegal vote dilution but accepted the revised maps created during a special legislative session. To succeed in this appeal, the plaintiffs must convince the panel that Jones misused his discretion in accepting the new maps.
Challengers insist the court was too lenient. Although Jones acknowledged earlier violations, he declined to impose further remedies, stating he could not override legislative decisions—even if the redrawn districts continued to entrench Republican power.
During Thursday’s arguments, Judge Adalberto Jordan questioned the challengers on how many of the harmed voters must be included in remedial districts to comply with federal law. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued there’s no strict numerical threshold but maintained that the state didn’t go far enough.
Abha Khanna, representing plaintiffs in two of the lawsuits, accused lawmakers of cleverly distributing Black voters across districts to obscure the problem rather than fix it. The state, she said, had “laundered Black voters across districts deftly to create the illusion of new opportunities.”
Though the updated maps technically added more Black-majority districts, they also solidified Republican dominance. Despite winning only about 53% to 54% of the vote in statewide contests, the GOP controls 64% of Georgia’s congressional delegation (9 out of 14 seats). They also hold 59% of state Senate seats and 56% of the state House.
If the current maps are upheld, Georgia is poised to use them through the 2030 election cycle, cementing the political advantages they create.
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