Georgia redistricting case returns to lower court after appeals court ruling

The legal battle over Georgia’s 2021 congressional and legislative maps is headed back to a lower court after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the case to be reconsidered.

According to GPB, the decision comes after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April changed how courts can apply the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in redistricting cases. That ruling could make it more difficult for plaintiffs to challenge maps based on the dilution of Black voting power.

The Georgia case previously resulted in a 2023 order requiring lawmakers to redraw several districts. The latest development gives the lower court an opportunity to determine whether that earlier decision still stands under the Supreme Court’s new legal standard.

Bernard Tamas, a political science professor at Valdosta State University, said the shift could significantly change the limits states face when drawing political boundaries.

“At least with the earlier system, even though there was still gerrymandering going on, the states were at least forced to draw in districts that would benefit minority voters,” Tamas said. “It was limited and they could use it to some degree for their advantage, but they were limited. Those limits are gone now.”

The case could have implications beyond the maps themselves, as the outcome may determine whether Georgia can continue using boundaries that were challenged over their impact on Black voters.

GPB reports that the replacement maps adopted in 2023 contain language allowing Georgia to restore the disputed 2021 districts if the state ultimately wins the legal challenge. Any changes to the maps would also be pushed off until 2028.

The case now returns to the lower court, where judges will have to apply the Supreme Court’s revised interpretation of federal voting protections to Georgia’s redistricting dispute.