NRF Calls on Federal Court to Strike Down Georgia’s Latest Congressional, State Legislative Maps

For Immediate Release
December 20, 2023
Contact
Brooke Lillard
lillard@redistrictingfoundation.org

Washington, D.C. — Today, a federal district court will hear objections to a new set of congressional and state legislative maps enacted by Georgia Republicans.

All of the maps fail to meet the requirements ordered by the court for compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) and continue to dilute the voting power and representation of minority voters in Georgia. Specifically, all of the maps defy the court’s orders by, among other things, failing to expand the opportunity to elect candidates of choice to Black Georgia voters who have been previously denied that ability. They also eliminate existing minority opportunity districts in order to create new majority-Black districts, in direct contravention of the court’s directives.

“The maps enacted by Georgia Republicans deny Black voters equal representation, defy the court’s orders, and dismantle existing minority opportunity districts. For those reasons and more, the court should refuse to allow these maps to be used for the 2024 elections and instead begin the process to establish maps that comply with the court’s highly detailed orders and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” said Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF). “All Georgia voters deserve equal representation and equal voting power. Both fundamental rights are at stake in the outcome of this case.”

This fall, the federal district court ruled in the cases Pendergrass v. Raffensberger and Grant v. Raffensberger that Georgia’s congressional and state legislative maps violate the VRA and ordered the state to enact a new congressional map and new state legislative maps. The National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), initiated these legal challenges in 2021.

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