General Assembly’s New State Senate Map Proposal Likely Violates Court’s Order
ATLANTA — Plaintiffs in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. v. Raffensperger sent a letter today to the Georgia House and Senate Reapportionment & Redistricting Committees outlining legal concerns about a proposed state Senate map released yesterday by the Senate Reapportionment & Redistricting Committee.
The letter also provides legislators with proposed state House and Senate maps that would comply with a federal court order issued on Oct. 26, 2023.
In that decision, the court ruled in favor of the Alpha Phi Alpha plaintiffs and ordered the General Assembly to redraw maps with two additional Black-majority districts in the Senate and five new Black-majority districts in the House by Dec. 8, 2023.
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, and WilmerHale, which represent the Alpha Phi Alpha plaintiffs, say the Senate map released by the committee yesterday fails to remedy the specific districts that the court said were in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
“In sum: the Committee Plan operates a shell game, in which Black voters in the vote dilution area identified by the Court gain no new opportunities, and districts that the Court specifically struck down remain intact,” says the letter that plaintiffs’ counsel sent to the House and Senate Committees.
The technical files associated with the proposed maps (“Block Equivalency Files”) can be found HERE.
