Georgia redistricting battle revived after appeals court overturns federal court decision
Georgia secured a major victory Tuesday in its long-running redistricting battle after a federal appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that the state’s 2021 maps violated the Voting Rights...
By Fox News · Fox News
Georgia secured a major victory Tuesday in its long-running redistricting battle after a federal appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that the state’s 2021 maps violated the Voting Rights Act, sending the case back for a complete re-evaluation. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the lower court must determine whether there was a "strong inference" that the maps were intentionally drawn to dilute Black voting power, rather than simply finding that the maps had a discriminatory effect under permissible partisan gerrymandering. The decision follows a major Supreme Court ruling in a similar Louisiana case that significantly modified the legal framework for determining racial discrimination in redistricting. The high court said plaintiffs must provide evidence of "present-day intentional racial discrimination." "Plaintiffs must be able to show that voters are engaged in racial-bloc voting because of race, not partisan affiliation," the ruling stated. BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Georgia’s congressional and state legislative maps drawn after the 2020 census violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and issued a permanent injunction barring Georgia from using the maps in future elections. The lower court specifically ordered the state to create additional majority-Black districts across the state Senate, state House of Representatives and U.S. congressional districts. Meanwhile, a similar redistricting battle was unfolding in Louisiana, where Robinson v. Ardoin challenged the state’s congressional map, which initially included just one majority-Black district out of six. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ALABAMA REDISTRICTING PLAN IN BLOW TO TRUMP A federal court later ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, ordering Louisiana to create a second majority-Black district after finding that the original map violated the Voting Rights Act. However, a group of non-minority v…