A new trial has begun in Georgia alleging that Republicans drew an illegal racial gerrymander of the congressional district lines in the state to deny Black voters the ability to elect the candidates of their choice, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.
“Black voters were shut out of new political opportunities even though new majority-Black districts could have easily been drawn,” said plaintiff attorney Sophia Lin Lakin in the opening statement. “Black Georgians continue to be underrepresented in the halls of power.”
Plaintiffs allege in particular that Republicans violated federal law when they drew two Democratic districts in the northern suburbs of Atlanta together, one of which was held by Black Rep. Lucy McBath, allowing Republicans to claim the other district for 9 out of the state's 14 seats.
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A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could force Georgia's congressional districts to be redrawn ahead of the 2024 election.
Such a ruling would be another challenge to Republicans' already daunting task of holding their narrow, five-seat House majority in 2024. The president's party usually gains seats in presidential election years.
Furthermore, this comes as other Republican racial gerrymanders are struck down or challenged, following the Supreme Court's Allen v. Milligan decision that upheld the Voting Rights Act's test for fair racial opportunity districts. The immediate consequence of that ruling was to force Alabama to drew a second Black congressional district, which they refused to do. A judicial panel this week found their remedial map illegal.
