Georgia’s Republican governor calls for special session to redraw electoral maps

Brian Kemp in Athens, Georgia, in August 2023.

Photograph: Hyosub Shin/AP View image in fullscreen Brian Kemp in Athens, Georgia, in August 2023.

Photograph: Hyosub Shin/AP Georgia’s Republican governor calls for special session to redraw electoral maps Brian Kemp’s move makes Georgia latest southern state to initiate map-making after dismantling of Voting Rights Act The Republican governor of Georgia called a special session for next month to redraw electoral maps, the latest southern state to initiate a new map-making after the US supreme court’s dismantling of the Voting Rights Act .

Brian Kemp announced the special session, which will start on 17 June, on Wednesday. It will focus on “enacting, revising, repealing, or amending” district lines for the state legislature and congressional district, in light of the supreme court’s decision in Louisiana v Callais.

Kemp, whose term ends next January, has said that the state will not redraw its boundaries for this year’s elections. The state’s primaries are set for next Tuesday. Instead, the redistricting special session will seek to lock in Republican-leaning maps while the party still holds power in the legislature and governor’s office.

US supreme court ‘demolishes’ Voting Rights Act, gutting provision that prevented racial discrimination Read more The Republicans could seek to draw Democratic representative Sanford Bishop, a Black member of Congress who has served since 1993, out of his seat, the Atlanta Journal Constitution noted . Other districts are less clear and could risk a “dummymander”, where an aggressive redraw backfires on the majority party.

The special session will also include addressing issues related to a new law regarding QR codes on ballots that’s set to go into place in July.

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