We use cookies to enhance site functionality and improve your experience.
By selecting "Accept All," you agree. We respect your privacy.

  • Redistricting

Grant v. Raffensperger

01.11.2022
  • Georgia
  • Ongoing

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 (VRA). 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 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 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 VRA; 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 VRA.

In late November 2023, Georgia passed remedial state-legislative maps, which NRF-supported plaintiffs argued failed to remedy fully the violations of the previously invalidated maps. The district court held that the remedial plans complied with its order to address vote dilution, and the maps were used in the 2024 election. In late January 2024, the NRF-supported plaintiffs filed their notice of appeal of the adoption and implementation of the remedial maps. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held oral arguments in May 2025 but then issued a stay on October 10, 2025, pending the resolution of other litigation. On May 8, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit issued an order calling for the parties to brief how the U.S. Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision changes the legal analysis for the Section 2 liabliity. The state of Georgia submitted its brief on May 29, 2026, and the plaintiffs’ brief is due June 19, 2026.

Case Documents