Cobb elections board settles lawsuit over school board maps

Cobb County elections officials have settled a federal lawsuit filed by residents and organizations alleging that redrawn maps for the Board of Education were unconstitutional.

Catch up quick: The Cobb school board in 2021 approved new district maps created by the Republican-majority General Assembly, and they passed last year, despite the protest of Democratic Cobb lawmakers last year.

• Four Cobb residents — represented by several organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU of Georgia — filed a lawsuit arguing that the maps violated the Constitution by disproportionately grouping voters of color into three districts.

The big picture: The case has sparked tension between the Cobb school district and the elections board.

• Cobb schools argues that the agreement signed by the board will allow "interests groups" to intervene in the redistricting process.
• The Board of Elections stipulates that it's a politically neutral body and that it was not the proper party to defend the suit.

What they're saying: Freeman, Mathis & Gary, the legal team representing the school district, said the settlement "paved an unobstructed path for the SPLC to impose their will over the legislature, the governor, and the voters of Cobb County."

The other side: Board of Elections chair Tori Silas and Daniel White, attorney for the board, maintain that the school board and state were the proper parties to defend the lawsuit.

• It also said the district's assertions of the board colluding with SPLC is "patently false and is a deflection from the choices the school district made in defending this case."

The intrigue: White said the district "made a massive blunder in its litigation strategy that cost it the ability to defend the redistricting maps it created."

• The school district, which was not a party in the case, in January voluntarily joined as a defendant and later asked a judge to dismiss it from the case.
• The judge granted that request, which White said put the district "in the unenviable position of not being able to appeal an order it dislikes because it got what it asked for from the court."