U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled that the redistricting map by the Republican-controlled General Assembly violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“The Court commends Georgia for the great strides that it has made to increase the political opportunities of Black voters in the 58 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” wrote the judge. “Despite these great gains, the Court determines that in certain areas of the State, the political process is not equally open to Black voters. For example, in the past decade, all of Georgia’s population growth was attributable to the minority population, however, the number of majority-Black congressional and legislative districts remained the same.”
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 states:
(a)No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 10303(f)(2) of this title, as provided in subsection (b).(b)A violation of subsection (a) is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election in the State or political subdivision are not equally open to participation by members of a class of citizens protected by subsection (a) in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice. The extent to which members of a protected class have been elected to office in the State or political subdivision is one circumstance which may be considered: Provided, That nothing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population.
The judge noted that Georgia’s population grew to 10,711,908 between 2010 and 2020. The overall minority growth was 1,076,019 at 25.18. Those who are AP [any-part] Black increased by 484,048 (15,85%). However, the white population decreased by 51,764 people.
Georgia’s lawyers argued that the legislature drew the map “based on partisanship rather than race.”
The lawyers admitted that the politicians made the districts to help the GOP “but didn’t discriminate against Black voters.” From the AJC:
But plaintiffs in the case, including civil rights organizations and religious groups, said the Republican-controlled General Assembly denied opportunities for Black voters during redistricting two years ago.During that redistricting, the General Assembly shifted the boundaries of the 6th Congressional District, which was previously held by U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Black woman from Cobb County.The new district included heavily Republican and white areas to the north, resulting in Republican Rich McCormick winning the seat in last year’s election with 62% of the vote. McBath ran and won in the neighboring 7th District, ousting her Democratic colleague in the U.S. House, Carolyn Bourdeaux.
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