A federal judge extended the deadline for Georgia lawmakers to redraw the Cobb County Board of Education boundaries, after lawmakers insisted the original deadline was impossible to meet.
Lawmakers now have until Jan. 22 — less than two weeks — to adopt a new map.
Voting rights groups sued in 2022 after the current map was adopted, alleging it is discriminatory and dilutes the voting power of people of color. Judge Eleanor L. Ross found in December that the groups could likely prove in court that “race was a predominant motivating factor” behind the map. She gave lawmakers until Wednesday to adopt a temporary map to be used in the upcoming school board election while the case continues.
But in meetings on Monday and Tuesday of this week, members of the Cobb County delegation could not agree on a map, but agreed that they wouldn’t be able to make the deadline. So plaintiffs and defendants in the case filed a joint request for the judge to extend the deadline, which she granted Wednesday.
The judge also outlined a process for objections from either party and arbitration, with the final deadline for the court to approve the map on Feb. 9. The idea is for the map to be in place in time for the Cobb County school board election on May 21, and the qualifying period for candidates the week of March 4.
Two maps are currently being discussed in the Statehouse: Rep. Teri Anulewicz, D-Smyrna, planned to put a map through the local legislation process, under which a majority of the delegation must sign on to one of the maps. It will likely be difficult, as the delegation is split along party lines with Democrats barely holding the majority. Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, has already filed a different map as general legislation: Senate Bill 338.
Setzler said his proposed map meets criteria set by the judge and reduces the number of people moved into a new district. The map Anulewicz presented more closely resembles the district map from 2012 while protecting communities of interest, like cities and high school districts, she said.
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