The Georgia Legislature will meet for a special legislative session on starting on June 17 to redraw the state’s U.S. Congress, state House, and state Senate maps.
The move comes after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision, which weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Georgia’s legislative and congressional maps drawn in 2021 were struck down after a federal judge found that they violated the Voting Rights Act.
Gov. Brian Kemp, who called the special session, said he wanted to redraw the districts for 2028 because it was too late to revise the 2026 districts with the primary election already underway.
While under the Gold Dome, lawmakers will also reexamine legislation related to QR codes on ballots.
Georgia’s Dominion voting machines use QR codes on the backs of ballots to tally votes. A 2024 law passed requires that QR codes no longer be used to count votes by July 1, 2026.
A bill that would have moved the deadline until after the November election passed the state House during the legislative session but stalled in the Senate. The only solution left was for Kemp to call a special session to find and fund an alternative way to tally votes, or kick the deadline back.
Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey released a statement denouncing Kemp’s calling of the special session.
“Governor Kemp’s decision to call a special session to redraw our maps immediately in the wake of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act is not only a brazen attempt to take away the voting power of Black Georgians – it shows just how scared Republicans are of Georgia voters.
Bailey urged voters to elect Democrats “up and down the ballot who will be accountable to Georgia voters – not try to silence them to hold power.”
