Kemp calls special session to redraw Georgia congressional maps
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Georgia lawmakers will convene a special session next month to consider redrawing state House, state Senate and congressional district boundaries and determine how voters will cast ballots later this year.
Why it matters: New maps could break up majority-Black congressional districts and dilute Black- and other minority-majority districts in the General Assembly.
- Similar efforts in Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama are poised to reshape voting across the South.
- If approved, redrawn maps would go into effect in the 2028 election cycle.
The latest: The special session will begin June 17, according to Kemp's proclamation issued Wednesday.
- Along with redistricting, legislators will also consider postponing a self-imposed July 1 deadline to remove QR codes from ballots.
- Senate Bill 214 passed the House, but did not pass the upper chamber before adjournment.
- The special session will begin one day after the June 16 runoff for next week's primary elections.
Catch up quick: The special session comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last month limited a key provision of the Voting Rights Act by striking down Louisiana's congressional map.
- Louisiana suspended its House elections, and the Legislature is considering a new congressional map that would eliminate one of the state's two majority-Black districts.
- Lawmakers in Tennessee last week approved a new congressional map that dilutes the state's only majority-Black district.
Flashback: The General Assembly in late 2023 redrew its congressional, state House and state Senate district lines after a federal judge ruled the maps violated the Voting Rights Act.
What we're watching: The Republican-led General Assembly could redraw congressional boundaries to weaken the seat held by U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, who holds the only Democratic seat outside metro Atlanta.
- The district, which stretches across southwest Georgia, is mostly rural and is one of the few across the South where Black voters "are the dominant political force," the AJC reported.