ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp formally issued a call for a special session of the legislature related to redistricting in the state.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot spoke to representatives from both political parties about how the special session was initiated in the wake of the recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it so race cannot be used to redistrict and create majority-minority voting districts.
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Since the SCOTUS decision on April 30, Republican legislatures around the south United States have scrambled to redraw district lines for both the states’ general assemblies and districts for U.S. Congress.
Members of the Democratic Party of Georgia told Elliot the news would galvanize their voters and they’ll be working hard to stop the redraw.
Kemp called for the legislature to return to the Georgia Capitol on June 17 to start the process of modifying state voting districts for the 2028 election cycle.
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On the other side of the aisle, members of the Georgia Republican Party applauded the governor, saying that the state “must move forward with aggressive redistricting that fully eliminates racial gerrymandering.”
But whatever lawmakers here decide, it will not affect voting districts for the coming November midterms. The maps would take effect for the 2028 primaries and general elections.
The session will also have lawmakers work on changes to the state’s electoral and ballot process in response to a 2024 law revolving around the use of paper ballots and QR codes.
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