ATLANTA — The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is sending a lawsuit over Georgia’s 2021 congressional maps back to a lower court after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act.
New Georgia voting district maps were passed in 2021 but declared unconstitutional by an Atlanta judge in 2023.
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The 2021 vote by the Republican-controlled legislature on new district maps went right down party lines. Opponents filed an appeal in federal district court.
The maps shifted the Republican edge from 8-6 to 9-5.
A series of lawsuits were filed against the state of Georgia arguing that the redrawn maps illegally discriminate against minorities and take away their voting power.
Two years later, federal District Judge Steve Jones issued a massive 516-page ruling declaring those maps violated the Voting Rights Act. The state immediately appealed to the 11th Circuit.
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Since then, a controversial decision by the U.S. Supreme Court diluted a section of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling said plaintiffs must prove lawmakers intended to discriminate against minorities when they drew district lines.
The 11th Circuit had no choice but to send the case back to Jones.
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Channel 2’s Richard Elliot reached out to the Georgia Secretary of State, the governor’s office, the Attorney General’s Office and to the American Civil Liberties Union for comment.
They declined to comment as this remains pending litigation.
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