Georgia New Congressional Map Reshapes Minority: The map fixing’ to keep things political as usual in our congressional delegation, aiming for nine Republicans and five Democrats. But hold your horses, it’s likely headed for another round in court after passing with a 98-71 vote.
“It’s like a game of high-stakes poker,” drawled Michael Li, the redistricting expert from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Now, in October, U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones said our state’s map was playing foul and needed a redo to give fair representation to the Black folks who’ve been driving our population growth. He even said, “You can’t fix this mess by messing with other minority districts.”
But them Republicans seem to be doing just that. They’re messing with Democrat Rep. Lucy McBath‘s 7th Congressional District, where Black, Hispanic, and Asian voters usually vote Democrat. They’re scrapping that and birthing a new majority-Black 6th Congressional District.
Georgia’s Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, is likely to stamp his approval on this map, sending it straight to court again. To defend it, they’ll have to argue that these coalition districts ain’t protected by the Voting Rights Act.
“It’s like a game where the rules ain’t clear,” Li said.
Georgia Democrats ain’t happy, shouting on the floor about how this Republican-drawn map ignores Judge Jones’ orders. They’re saying it’s just more crafty map-making, not reflecting the people’s will.
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State Rep. James Beverly, a Democrat, is calling it unlawful and downright wrong. This ain’t no Georgia map; it’s an Alabama map,” he declared.
Remember when Alabama lawmakers snubbed drawing a second Black opportunity district earlier this year? Even the U.S. Supreme Court said they had to, but Republicans were playing a different game. Now, a federal court referee had to step in, drawing Alabama’s map and giving Black voters two seats for the 2024 elections.
Republicans here are swearing their map is on the up-and-up, meeting all the court demands. State Rep. Rob Leverett, the Republican head of the redistricting committee, says that “minority opportunity district” only means Black voters according to the order.
“He’s talkin’ ’bout a case with Black voters, not these other minorities. We ain’t buying into this idea of mixing’ folks from different backgrounds to hit that 50% mark,” he explained.
If the U.S. Supreme Court decides the Voting Rights Act ain’t covering these mixed-up districts, Li says it could be a game-changer. It might just make it easier to play political games with diverse suburbs all over. “This could be a real shake-up. just watch,” he drawled.
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