2024 Redistricting 101
Georgia just drew new district maps in 2021 as part of the regular redistricting process that follows the once-a-decade U.S. Census. But last year in October, a federal judge threw out those maps, calling them racially discriminatory, and instructed Georgia lawmakers to draw new ones. The maps just went back to the drawing board.
Special Session Late 2023
A special session of the State House of Representatives was held late last year, and the Republican leaders of the State House pushed through new maps that have been approved by the judge, even though they still give Republicans unfair advantages.
History of Redistricting Lawsuits
After Governor Brian Kemp signed maps into law in early 2022, voting rights groups sued the state, calling the maps racially discriminatory. The groups argued the districts violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in state voting policies and redistricting.
The legal challenges were grouped into a single lawsuit, which ended up in the federal courtroom of Judge Steve Jones. Jones allowed the maps to be used for the 2022 election, finding it was too close to voting time to throw them out. After a trial in September, Judge Jones struck down the maps, finding that they violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Georgia’s growing Black population. Jones ordered Georgia to draw new maps with more majority-Black districts by December 8. It state lawmakers had not drawn new maps, Jones would have had them drawn by a third party.
“Georgia has made great strides since 1965 towards equality in voting,” Judge Jones wrote in his legal ruling. “However, the evidence before this Court shows that Georgia has not reached the point where the political process has equal openness and equal opportunity for everyone.”
Highlights
- Your State House District map is changing. Some voters will remain in State House District 65 and many voters from the old District 61 are now living in the new District 65
- The new Georgia State House 65 consists of the City of South Fulton districts 2, 3 and 4. Chattahoochee Hills is also included in the new map. Three precincts are included from Union City and one precinct from City of Atlanta and one precinct from East Point
- David Scott (D-Ga) will no longer be the congressman for our area after a federal judge approved a GOP-led redistricting plan, which moved his district further south into the Macon area
- Roger Bruce's (D-Ga.) State House District 61 will no longer encompass City of South Fulton Districts two and three
- Mandisha Thomas (D-Ga) is now pursuing election in Georgia’s new 6th Congressional District and will not be seeking reelection in Georgia State House District 65
- Robert Dawson (D-Ga) announced he is pursuing election in Georgia's new State House District 65. Election Day is May 21, 2024. Dawson is subject matter expert on the issue of redistricting and has been advocating for fair representation in our area and beyond. Dawson has been endorsed broadly in the new State House District 65
- Georgia is not the only state facing allegations of racial gerrymandering ahead of the 2024 US General Election. Tennessee, North Dakota, Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina have all faced legal challenges to proposed maps based on racial gerrymandering
