Supreme Court voting rights ruling shakes up Georgia redistricting fight

An 11th Circuit panel remanded the fight over Georgia's congressional and legislative maps to a lower court, ordering it to reconsider its earlier ruling that the maps diluted Black voting power in light of the Supreme Court's recent Louisiana v. Callais decision.

That Supreme Court ruling struck down Louisiana's creation of a second majority-Black district and held that Section 2 violations of the Voting Rights Act now require a strong inference of intentional discrimination, a higher bar than the 'totality of circumstances' test used previously.

The Georgia case, brought by plaintiffs including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, had already resulted in a judge ordering new majority-Black districts after finding vote dilution following the 2020 census. The panel, which included judges appointed by Obama, Trump, and Clinton, said the district court deserves a chance to apply the new standard it didn't have when it first ruled.

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