U.S. District Judge Steve Jones on Wednesday narrowed the opportunity to challenge the state’s newly drawn political districts.
In a hearing, Jones was uninterested in determining whether the concept of “minority opportunity districts” — generally defined as areas where racial minority groups are able to elect their preferred candidates by attracting some support from white voters — is protected by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In October, Jones ruled that districts passed in 2021 violated the Voting Rights Act by illegally diluting Black voting power and tasked them with creating seven new majority-Black legislative districts and one new majority-Black congressional district. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the new GOP-drawn maps that keep the Legislature and state’s congressional delegation in Republican control into law on Dec. 8.
Groups challenging the congressional maps are basing part of their argument on what they are calling the “dismantling” of a “minority opportunity district” with changes to Congressional District 7, currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, who is Black. Nonwhite voters make up a majority of the population in that district but no one race makes a majority.
Black voters overwhelmingly support Democrats in Georgia while most white voters back Republicans.
In his order, Jones said lawmakers could not eliminate any existing “minority opportunity districts.” He did not define the term in his order. They also could not eliminate any existing majority-Black districts.
But on Wednesday, Jones started the proceedings by specifying that his October order focused only on Black voters.
“The scope of this case has always been about Black voters,” Jones said. “This court was not asked to consider any other” nonwhite racial groups.
The Republican-drawn map does not provide additional opportunities for Black representation in the U.S. House, leaving in place the GOP’s 9-5 advantage among Georgia’s congressional delegation.
Abha Khanna, an attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that Congressional District 7 was overhauled from a district where a coalition of white and nonwhite voters supported McBath to one that has a white voting population of more than 75%, likely becoming solidly Republican.
The state did not create an “additional district in which Black voters have an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates,” she said.
Under the proposed map, the state increases the number of majority-Black congressional districts from three to five, but nine districts would remain majority-white — the same amount as Georgia’s current districts.
Bryan Tyson, an attorney representing the state, said the court did not require lawmakers to consider other nonwhite voters who aren’t Black or the existence of “coalition districts” when drawing the maps.
“The plaintiffs want to swap all references to ‘Black voters’ to ‘all minority voters,’ which is not what was argued in the court,” he said. “Black voters here have more ‘opportunity districts’ than they did in the 2021 maps.”
Jones’ order required legislators to create an additional majority-Black congressional district in west metro Atlanta. He also called for two more state Senate districts in south metro Atlanta and five more state House districts with Black majorities in the Atlanta and Macon areas.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and other Black voters and organizations say the Republican-drawn legislative maps fall short of the judge’s order because they move voters around in a way that still denies Black voters representation. Alpha Phi Alpha, a historically Black fraternity that’s been active in civil rights causes, and other plaintiffs successfully sued the state over the 2021 maps.
Ari Savitzky, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called the new legislative districts a “shell game,” arguing that lawmakers created the new majority-Black districts out of districts that already had a majority of Black voters.
“There are no new opportunities for Black voters in south metro Atlanta in this plan,” Savitzky said.
Tyson said the General Assembly followed Jones’ order, even though the new districts won’t do much to increase representation for Black voters in next year’s elections.
“If the argument is that Black voters are too concentrated in districts, it would make sense to move those voters into other districts,” he said. “That’s what the Legislature has done.”
The new maps safeguard the GOP’s control in the General Assembly. Republicans drew the new majority-Black districts in a way that protects every incumbent in the state Senate and likely gives up just two seats in the state House.
Georgia’s Black population has increased by nearly 500,000 residents since 2010, but they weren’t given adequate opportunities for additional representation, according to Jones’ October ruling. The state’s white population declined by about 52,000 in the past decade.
Republicans currently hold a 33-23 majority in the state Senate and a 102-78 advantage in the state House under GOP-drawn maps from 2021.
Georgia has appealed Jones’ October ruling, but the new political boundaries will be used in next year’s elections unless the judge rejects them and his decisions survive in appellate courts.
Jones will have to decide whether the newly drawn district lines illegally discriminate based on race or sort voters by their political preferences, which is allowed.
If Jones rules that the latest Republican redistricting continues to discriminate against Black voters, he could appoint a mapmaking expert to redraw the state’s maps again. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court could ultimately decide the case.
Tyson said that if Jones determines new maps are necessary, they must be in place by Jan. 29 to meet the necessary deadlines to prepare ballots for the presidential primary election in March.
“I’ll give y’all an answer back very quickly,” Jones said.
MORE DETAILS
Georgia’s Black population has increased by nearly 500,000 residents since 2010, but they weren’t given adequate opportunities for additional representation, according to U.S. District Judge Steve Jones’ October ruling. The state’s white population declined by about 52,000 in the past decade.
Republicans currently hold a 33-23 majority in the state Senate and a 102-78 advantage in the state House under GOP-drawn maps from 2021.
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