CASE SUMMARY

On January 7, 2022, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Georgia, and several Georgian voters filed a federal lawsuit against Georgia's Secretary of State and the Chairs of the Georgia House and Senate redistricting committees, challenging the state's enacted congressional plan as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Specifically, plaintiffs allege that the plan violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because the State Legislature's predominant consideration when creating Congressional Districts 6, 13, and 14 was race and that such use of race was not justified by any compelling governmental interest, such as compliance with Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. Plaintiffs assert that in the challenged areas, voters of color were either packed into districts in numbers higher than necessary to elect their candidates of choice or excessively cracked to prevent the formation of a majority-minority or "minority-opportunity" district. They are seeking a judicial declaration that Congressional Districts 6, 13, and 14 are unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, a permanent injunction barring the state from holding elections in the challenged and adjoining districts, and a court order establishing a deadline for the state to adopt a new, constitutional redistricting plan that still complies with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. They have also requested that the court order an interim redistricting plan be used in future elections if necessary.

On February 3, 2022, this case was consolidated with another challenge to Georgia's congressional plan, Georgia State Conf. of the NAACP v. Georgia.

Related Case: Georgia State Conf. of the NAACP v. Georgia

Similar Cases: Pendergrass v. Raffensperger; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. v. Raffensperger; Grant v. Raffensperger

CASE LIBRARY

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division - No. 1:22-cv-90

Common Cause v. Raffensperger
Tweet This