Georgia Senate Republicans propose map with 2 new Black-majority districts
Associated PressATLANTA — Georgia Senate Republicans are proposing a new map that would create two Black-majority voting districts, but would probably retain Republicans’ 33-23 edge in the General Assembly’s upper chamber, in an effort to fix a map a judge said illegally dilutes Black votes. A special session on redrawing state legislative and congressional districts is scheduled to begin Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in October ordered Georgia to draw Black majorities in one additional congressional district, two additional state Senate districts, and five additional state House districts. He ordered two additional Black Senate districts in the southern part of metro Atlanta, finding 10 state Senate districts illegal under Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. Ken Lawler, chair of Fair Districts GA, which seeks to reduce partisan gerrymandering, said that he thought the districts met Jones’ goal of creating additional Black majority districts.