Georgia Federal Judge Upholds Redrawn Political Districts

In December 2023, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones upheld the state of Georgia's redrawn political districts, stating that state lawmakers had "fully complied" with his order to create more districts with a majority of Black voters. This ruling comes after a series of highly contested redistricting cases, where the Election Law Group defended the state against multiple parties, including those represented by WilmerHale and the Elias Law Group.

Earlier in the litigation process, Judge Jones found the state’s 2021 congressional and legislative district maps adopted by the General Assembly violated the Voting Rights Act. He ruled that the maps needed to be redrawn in order to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, specifically by creating more majority-Black voting districts. Governor Kemp called a special session of the General Assembly for this purpose, and the newly drawn maps were presented to the court.

During the hearing, Bryan Tyson and the ELG Team presented an argument, utilizing witnesses to demonstrate how the revised maps resolved the specific problem areas identified by Judge Jones. After an eight-hour hearing, Judge Jones approved the maps, marking a significant win for the State of Georgia in these contested cases. Appeals of the underlying order will continue before the Eleventh Circuit. 

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia case cites:

1. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. et al. v. Raffensperger, case number 1:21-cv-05337
2. Pendergrass et al. v. Raffensperger, case number 1:21-cv-05339
3. Grant et al. v. Raffensperger, case number 1:22-cv-00122.