ICYMI: NRF Calls on Federal Court to Enforce Voting Rights Act in Georgia Redistricting Cases

For Immediate Release
May 15, 2025
Contact
Madia Coleman
coleman@redistrictingfoundation.org

Washington, D.C. – Today, oral arguments took place before the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Grant v. Raffensperger and Pendergrass v. Raffensperger, redistricting lawsuits that could determine the fate of Georgia’s legislative and congressional maps. The National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) initiated both lawsuits on behalf of voters challenging Georgia’s electoral maps as being in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Last week, the NRF hosted a press call featuring the organization’s executive director, Marina Jenkins, to preview the case ahead of today’s oral arguments. 

Excerpts from remarks as delivered by Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the NRF:

“The District Court gave clear guidance in its order: For its state legislative maps, the state must draw two new Black-opportunity state senate districts and five new Black-opportunity state house districts in specific areas. For the congressional map, the state was ordered to draw an additional Black opportunity district in the metro-Atlanta area. The state could not remedy its Section 2 violation by drawing congressional or state legislative maps that eliminate existing Black opportunity districts.”

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“But the state defied this instruction and passed maps that continue to dilute the voting power and representation of Black voters in Georgia.”

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“In short, the State of Georgia robbed Peter in order to pay Paul by enacting these maps. These maps eliminated existing opportunity districts in order to draw so-called ‘new opportunity districts,’ zeroing out Black opportunity statewide.”

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“Georgia’s actions betray the letter and the spirit of the Voting Rights Act, and to sanction these maps would be a continuation of the state’s sordid history of discrimination against Black voters.”

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“This should be an easy decision for the Eleventh Circuit. The District Court’s order was clear, and the General Assembly did everything in its power to skirt compliance with it. If they rule in the state’s favor here, it would be a disservice to Black Georgian voters who tenaciously fought for years to achieve their rightful representation.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

Going into the 2021 redistricting cycle, the 2020 Census data showed that Georgia’s white population decreased by over 4 percent, while Georgia’s Black population grew by more than 15 percent and now comprises more than 33 percent of the state’s population. Despite the growth in the Black population in the metro Atlanta area and persistent racially polarized voting between white and Black Georgians, in 2021, the state of Georgia enacted a congressional map that diluted Black voting power by cracking and packing Black communities. The NRF initiated legal challenges against these maps, arguing that Georgia’s congressional and state legislative maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 landmark decision in Allen v. Milligan, which upheld Section 2, the VRA was enforced by the courts in multiple states, including Georgia, where a lower federal court struck down congressional and state legislative maps and ordered the state to enact new maps that complied with the VRA. The state then enacted new congressional and state legislative maps in November 2023. 

The plaintiffs quickly objected, arguing that the new maps failed to comply with the court’s order because they continue to dilute the voting power and representation of Black voters in Georgia. However, the district court overruled that objection and ordered the new maps to be adopted for the 2024 elections. The plaintiffs appealed the district court’s order to the Eleventh Circuit, aiming to achieve congressional and state legislative maps that give Georgians equal representation. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision in this case will shape the future of Georgia’s congressional and legislative districts. To learn more about the NRF’s work, click here.  

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