Federal judge: Redistricting case focuses on Black voters

ATLANTA – A federal judge appeared to throw cold water on Dec. 20 on efforts to challenge new congressional and legislative maps the General Assembly’s Republican majorities drew during a recent special session.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones declared during a hearing that the case has focused on the rights of Black voters, not either Asian or Hispanic voters, the Associated Press reported.

The new maps created seven new Black majority districts in the General Assembly, two in the state Senate and five in the Georgia House, as well as an additional Black majority district in the state’s congressional map, as Jones ordered in October when he declared the maps lawmakers drew in 2021 in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

But legislative Democrats argued during the special session that Republicans failed to protect so-called “coalition” districts, where Blacks do not make up a majority of voters but together with Hispanic and Asian voters wield enough political clout to elect a minority candidate.

The prime example Democrats cited was Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, which was a coalition district centered in Gwinnett County under the 2021 map.

The redrawn district would become 75 percent white under the new map, as Republicans moved the district completely out of Gwinnett and ran it as far north as heavily white Dawson and Lumpkin counties.

But Jones said on Dec. 20 that no evidence concerning Asian and Hispanic voting behavior was introduced at the earlier trial. He said he was reluctant to rule on what amounts to a new alleged violation during a short time frame.

The judge indicated he would issue a decision soon to meet a mid-January deadline for the 2024 elections.