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A timeline of what led to Georgia’s special legislative session on redistricting
House Speaker David Ralston discusses the reapportionment maps during the special session in 2021. (Credit: Georgia House of Representatives)
Here’s a look at what led to Georgia lawmakers being compelled to redo the state’s electoral maps for the second time in as many years.
Nov. 3, 2021: After the release of the 2020 U.S. Census, the Georgia General Assembly convenes for a special session to review population changes and to redraw its congressional and legislative district maps.
Nov. 9, 2021: The state Senate approves its electoral map by a vote of 34-21, sending it to the House for approval.
Nov. 10: The state House approves its electoral map by a vote of 99-79, and sends its proposal to the state Senate.
Nov. 12: The state Senate votes 32-21 in favor of a new House map and sends the proposal to Gov. Kemp for final approval.
Nov. 15: The state House approves the Senate map by a vote of 96-70 and sends it to Gov. Kemp for approval.
Nov. 19: The state Senate votes 32-21 in favor of a new congressional map, and sends it to the House.
Nov. 22: The state House votes 96-68 in favor of the new congressional map, sending it to Gov. Kemp for final approval.
Dec. 30: Gov. Brian Kemps signs into law new electoral maps. Later that day, the American Civil Liberties Union files a lawsuit on behalf of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and other plaintiffs, while the Georgia NAACP and other civil rights groups file additional lawsuits against Georgia’s newly drawn maps, which they allege deny Black residents an equal chance to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice. Two more lawsuits are filed in January. The lawsuits say Georgia lawmakers could have — and should have — drawn more than a half-dozen additional new Black-majority districts due to the tremendous growth of the state’s Black population over the last decade.
Feb. 3, 2022: A U.S. District Court consolidates five lawsuits challenging Georgia’s electoral districts into one case.
June 8, 2023: In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court affirms a lower court’s decision that the Republican-drawn electoral map weakened the voting power of Blacks in Alabama, putting the state in direct violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The High Court’s ruling clears the way for a second congressional majority-Black district in Alabama. It also sets off a chain-reaction of similar rulings in other redistricting cases in other states, including Georgia. The litigation could help decide which political party takes control of the U.S. House in the 2024 congressional elections.
Oct. 5: A panel of federal judges approves a new map created by a third-party known as a special master, rejecting Alabama’s second attempt to fix the map. The new map creates another near-majority Black district to Alabama’s lone majority Black district.
Oct. 26: U.S. District Judge Steve Jones orders Georgia lawmakers to draw a new congressional map for the 2024 election, ruling that the current Republican-backed plan illegally dilutes Black votes in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The 516-page order also requires Georgia lawmakers to draw two new majority-Black districts in Georgia’s 56-member state Senate and five new Black-majority districts in the 180-member state House. Lawmakers have until Dec. 8 to comply with Jones’ order.
Gov. Brian Kemp responds to Jones’s order by calling a special session to redraw the state’s political maps.
Nov. 29-Dec. 8: The Georgia General Assembly will gather at the Capitol in Atlanta to redraw congressional, state House and state Senate electoral maps, taking into account Jones’s order.
Source: Staff research and news reports.
Senior Investigative Reporter Jill Jordan Sieder contributed to this report.
Interested in watching the proceedings? You can do so here or you can see it in person at the Capitol. The Senate gallery on the fourth floor of the Capitol will be open to the public.
Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
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