ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp says Georgia cannot cancel its May 19 primary in wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Congressional district maps because early voting has already started.
The US Supreme Court issued a ruling on Wednesday affecting how district lines can be drawn according to race. Some Georgia Republicans have since demanded that Kemp call legislature back into special session, so they can begin the process of redrawing district lines.
This is a developing story. We’ll have the latest on the governor’s statement and reaction from state lawmakers, on Channel 2 Action News starting at 4:00 p.m.
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In a statement on Friday, Kemp said it would be too late to reconfigure new maps for the 2026 midterm election since early voting started on Monday. He said any new maps would have to be for the 2028 election.
“The Supreme Court’s decision Louisiana v. Callais restores fairness to our redistricting process and allows states to pass electoral maps that reflect the will of the voters, not the will of federal judges. Voting is already underway for the 2026 elections, but it’s clear that Callais requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle,” Kemp said.
While the current maps will be used for 2026, it is possible for the governor to call a legislative session to redraw the maps for 2028 before his term ends in January.
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The current Georgia congressional maps were redrawn and signed into law in 2023 after its own federal court battle.
The Georgia General Assembly initially approved the set of maps back in 2021. The maps shifted the Republican edge from 8-6 to 9-5.
A federal judge later ruled that those 2021 maps violated a section of the Voting Rights Act. Kemp had to call a special session in Nov. 2023 to redraw and approve the current maps.
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