A federal judge has ruled that Georgia voting maps are discriminatory.
Georgia News Network reports Judge Steve Jones gave lawmakers until December 8 to draw new maps after finding that the Republican-drawn congressional and state legislative maps violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by weakening the power of Black voters.
One of the districts targeted by the plaintiffs is the 6th, represented by Republican Rich McCormick, and includes Forsyth and part of Dawson counties. Click here for Sept. 10 story Forsyth Co., part of Dawson could end up in congressional district favoring Democrats (wgtjradio.com)
Republican legislative leadership in Georgia, including GOP chairman Josh Mckoon, say partisan politics played a part in the decision. Judge Jones was appointed to the federal bench by Democrat Barrack Obama when he was president.
Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega), Senate Majority Leader, told the AJC it’s likely that many congressional, state House and state Senate districts will have to be redrawn.
The newspaper also reports that Gov. Brian Kemp has called a special session of the legislature for Nov. 29 to deal with the issue.