Georgia's Republican governor Brian Kemp is convening lawmakers next month to redraw the state's electoral boundaries, making Georgia the latest southern state to launch map-making efforts in the wake of a major Supreme Court decision that weakened voting rights protections.
Kemp announced the special legislative session will begin on June 17. The session will allow lawmakers to enact, revise, repeal, or amend district lines for both state legislative and congressional seats. The move comes after the Supreme Court in April struck down a key section of the Voting Rights Act that had prevented racial discrimination in voting.
The timing is notable. Kemp said Georgia will not redraw boundaries for this year's elections, even though the state's primary is next week. The special session later in June will proceed after the primary, allowing Republicans to lock in favorable maps while the party maintains control of both the legislature and governorship. Kemp's term ends in January.
One possible target is Democratic representative Sanford Bishop, a Black member of Congress who has represented his district since 1993. Strategists have also flagged other districts as candidates for redrawing, though some aggressive changes could produce a political backlash if the maps prove unworkable for the majority party.
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock attacked the move on social media. "There is an extreme movement in this country that will stop at nothing to hold on to power, even if it means stripping representation away from millions," Warnock wrote.
The Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais dealt a significant blow to minority voting power across the country. The justices ruled that Louisiana's districts, which were drawn to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, violated the Constitution. That ruling effectively allows states to dilute Black and minority representation in a way that was previously prohibited.
The decision triggered a wave of map redrawing across the South. Louisiana moved to eliminate a Black-majority district in the Baton Rouge area, setting aside tens of thousands of ballots already cast to do so. Alabama obtained Supreme Court approval to use a map that had previously been deemed discriminatory against Black voters. Tennessee eliminated its sole Democratic, Black-majority congressional district.
Not all Republican states have followed suit. South Carolina's legislature voted against new maps despite pressure from the former president to redraw them. Virginia voters approved a ballot measure creating more Democratic-leaning districts, but the state's supreme court rejected the map, pushing the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mid-decade redistricting is historically rare outside the decennial census process. The current wave reflects both the Supreme Court's decision and earlier pressure from Republican leaders seeking favorable maps ahead of expected party losses in midterm elections. Some Democratic states have responded by redrawing their own maps to benefit their candidates.
Georgia's special session will also address a new state law banning QR codes on ballots that takes effect in July.
Author James Rodriguez: "This is naked power consolidation dressed up as a normal legislative procedure, and the fact that a court decision made it possible doesn't make it any less cynical."
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