Jan 23, 2025 Story by: Editor
A Georgia lawyer defended the new congressional and legislative maps drawn by the state’s Republican-controlled General Assembly in 2023 during a Thursday hearing in a lawsuit that claims the districts violate the Voting Rights Act.
Georgia Solicitor General Stephen Petrany argued before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that voters in Georgia have consistently elected Republican majorities in both the state legislature and congressional delegation based on party affiliation, not race. He pointed out that GOP candidates, whether Black or white, have been winning their elections.
“This is simply partisan politics,” Petrany stated. “(The plaintiffs) must prove that the majority is voting differently, and that difference must be somehow connected to race.”
The lawsuit, filed by five Georgia voters, is an appeal of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in December 2023, which upheld the new district maps that Georgia lawmakers created during a special session earlier that year.
The special session was prompted by a decision in October 2023, in which Judge Jones ruled that the General Assembly must redraw the district lines after civil rights and voting rights groups filed lawsuits, arguing that the maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
While the newly drawn maps created a Black-majority district in western metro Atlanta, along with several new Black-majority districts in both the Georgia House and Senate, the plaintiffs’ lawyers argued that the maps still did not go far enough.
Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, said, “Racial polarization is leading to the dilution of minority voting strength. There is less opportunity for minority voters.”
Petrany, in defense, highlighted the two election victories of U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., in 2021 and 2022 as evidence that Black candidates can succeed in Georgia statewide elections.
However, Abha Khanna, another lawyer for the plaintiffs, argued that Warnock’s victories were exceptions and that very few Black candidates have won statewide office in Georgia. She also pointed out that, of the five Black members in Georgia’s congressional delegation, four represent districts with Black majorities.
“Secretary (of State Brad Raffensperger) says Black voters have done enough winning in Georgia,” Khanna remarked. “That’s wrong.”
The case continues to unfold as both sides present their arguments.
Source: Savanna How
