Grant v. Raffensperger
Plaintiffs supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) initiated a legal challenge against Georgia’s state legislative maps for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and diluting the voting strength of the state’s Black communities. The complaint alleges that the state legislative maps crack and pack Black voters in the Atlanta metropolitan area and across the Black Belt in Georgia, diluting their electoral strength.
The General Assembly could have instead created additional, compact State Senate and House districts in which Black voters comprise a majority of eligible voters and have the opportunity to elect their preferred candidates, as required by Section 2 of the VRA.
Significantly, this could have been done without reducing the number of other districts in which Black voters have the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. This case was consolidated with Pendergrass v. Raffensperger – a legal challenge to Georgia’s congressional maps, also initiated by the NRF.
On February 28, 2022, the district court found that plaintiffs had made their case that the legislative districts likely violated the Voting Rights Act; however, the court denied relief, concluding that there was not sufficient time to provide remedial relief for the 2022 elections. Subsequently, the court held an eight-day bench trial in September 2023 in which it heard from dozens of witnesses.
On October 26, 2023, the court issued its final order, which granted judgment for the plaintiffs that Georgia’s legislative districts violated the Voting Rights Act. The defendants appealed the trial court’s judgment to the Eleventh Circuit, which held oral argument on January 23, 2025. A decision from the Eleventh Circuit remains pending.
Case Documents
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