Georgia's re-drawn congressional and state district maps have been approved.
On Thursday afternoon, a federal judge with the United States District Court for the Northern District ruled the boundaries drawn by lawmakers during a special session can stand and will be in effect for the next elections in 2024.
The Republican-majority legislature had been told to re-draw the state's congressional and state districts after the original ones drawn in 2021 were determined in October to undercut the electoral power of Black voters in the western part of metro Atlanta. In order to correct this, a federal judge told lawmakers to create one additional majority-Black congressional district -- without eliminating "minority opportunity districts elsewhere."
Lawmakers convened during a special session starting on Nov. 29, where they re-drew the congressional maps, adding the Black-majority districts that the judge ordered in October: including one in Congress, two in the state Senate and five in the state House. But lawmakers -- led by the GOP -- radically reconfigure some Democratic-held districts that don't have Black majorities, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath's 7th District in the Atlanta suburbs.
Challengers attacked the new boundaries, arguing in a Dec. 20 federal court hearing that they did not increase opportunities for Black voters and instead just shuffled them from one district to another, especially after dissolving McBath's seat. They also argued whether re-drawing the new Black-majority district in parts of Fulton, Douglas, Cobb and Fayette counties actually complied with the court's ruling if district seven was eliminated.
The judge ultimately disagreed with the challengers, saying that lawmakers were not constrained to making changes in the affected districts identified by the court and the court could not intrude on the "domain of the General Assembly" anyway because redistricting is a "legislative task [which] the federal courts to make every effort not to preempt."
The court concluded, therefore, that the new changes "fully complied with the Court's order" and that the elimination of district seven did not violate the court's order.
The approval of the maps sets the stage for them to be used in 2024's upcoming elections. Republicans are likely to keep the same 9-5 majority among Georgia's 14 congressional seats, while also retaining GOP majorities in the state Senate and House.
In a statement posted on platform X, Secretary of State Office COO Gabriel Sterling praised the ruling, adding that "counties can now safely begin the redistricting process, and we have a clear path for the '24 election."
11Alive reached out to representatives of those who challenged the legislature's maps to see if they plan to appeal the ruling.
Meanwhile, Democratic Georgia state senators issued a statement, saying they "strongly disagree" with the ruling and believe the maps "discriminate against Black voters and do not allow those voters to elect candidates of their choice."
"The Republican maps are an ongoing Voting Rights Act violation. Period," said State Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler. "While we respect Judge Jones' decision, we will continue fighting to deliver Georgians the fair maps they deserve. We must end the cycle of partisan gerrymandering that allows politicians to choose their voters and prevents voters from choosing their representatives."
In a statement issued Thursday, shortly after news of the ruling, McBath promised she would run for re-election in the 6th district -- and not in the eliminated 7th -- because "too much is at stake to stand down.” The 6th district is currently represented by Republican Rich McCormick, who won the seat in the 2022 election, the year after the district was first re-drawn.
Material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.