Alpha Phi Alpha Files Complaint Over New Georgia Voting Maps, Says It Excludes Black Voters
On Tuesday, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity objected to Georgia’s new voting maps. It says it doesn’t create more opportunities for Black voters to choose Congress and the General Assembly candidates.
“The 2023 proposed plans fail to address the vote dilution found by this court after (the) trial. They instead perpetuate it,” attorneys wrote, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
The objection comes as Gov. Brian Kemp signed new legislative and congressional political maps into law last week. The maps were drawn after a federal judge ruled that the districts created by the General Assembly in 2021 suppressed the Black vote and were in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Alpha Phi Alpha had successfully sued the state. Today, they allege that the new maps did not fix the issue. Republicans remain at a 9-5 majority in Georgia’s U.S. House delegation and have control of the General Assembly.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones set a hearing on Dec. 20 to discuss the newly drawn district lines. If he rules that the maps continue to exclude Black voters, an expert may be appointed to redraw the maps again. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court could have the final say.
Georgia election officials have indicated that districts should be finalized in January in anticipation of the 2024 general election in November next year.
