NRF Statement on Louisiana, Georgia VRA Lawsuits Moving Forward with Renewed Momentum

Contact

Jena Doyle

doyle@redistrictingfoundation.org

NRF Statement on Louisiana, Georgia VRA Lawsuits Moving Forward with Renewed Momentum

Washington, D.C. – Today, further court proceedings were set for ongoing Voting Rights Act lawsuits in Louisiana and Georgia that were initiated by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF). This marks renewed momentum in the challenges against gerrymandered maps in Louisiana and Georgia, and another step toward fair, compliant maps in both states following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Allen v. Milligan. 

In Louisiana, a U.S. District Court set a hearing for October 3, 2023 in the case Robinson v. Ardoin, the lawsuit challenging Louisiana's congressional map for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). In Georgia, a trial is set to begin on September 5, 2023 in Pendergrass v. Raffensberger, which is a challenge against Georgia’s congressional map, and Grant v. Raffensberger, which is a challenge against Georgia’s state legislative maps. In both of the Georgia lawsuits, the maps are being challenged for diluting the voting power of Black Georgians in violation of Section 2 of the VRA. 

The NRF, the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), initiated  these legal challenges in Georgia in 2021 and in Louisiana in 2022 in response to the passage of gerrymandered maps in each state. The NRF had also initiated the successful challenge against Alabama’s congressional map in Allen v. Milligan.

Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the NRF, issued the following statement:

“As we anticipated following the Supreme Court’s decision in Allen v. Milligan, we are seeing renewed momentum toward fair maps in states that were once thought to be unreachable in the fight for fairness, and that includes Louisiana and Georgia. Black Louisianans make up nearly one-third of the state’s population, yet the current congressional map gives Black voters the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice in just one out of six congressional districts. Similarly, in Georgia, Black voters now compose more than one-third of the state’s population, but are not granted equal representation in their congressional and state legislative districts. These maps present textbook violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and voters deserve to have their rights protected through these cases. That means an additional Black opportunity district should be included in each of Louisiana and Georgia’s congressional maps, and Georgia’s state legislative maps should include eight additional Black opportunity districts.” 

###