Voting rights advocates are celebrating the decision by Georgia lawmakers to scrap talks of redistricting following a press conference and rally held on the morning of June 17.
Hours before the special session called by Gov. Brian Kemp, Speaker of the House Jon Burns sent a letter to Kemp announcing the decision to hold off on redrawing the voting districts.
“Changes to Georgia’s maps should take place only when members of the General Assembly and citizens have been given ample opportunity to gather the facts, provide input and engage in meaningful discussion,” Burns wrote in the letter.
Related story: Georgia Republicans scrap redistricting talks before special session begins
“We believe it is prudent to allow the judicial process to continue developing in other states and to carefully evaluate how courts rule on newly adopted district maps across the country,” Senate President Pro Tempore Larry Walker said in a statement. “With this guidance, we are confident that Georgia’s new districts will ultimately withstand legal scrutiny and that Georgia will prevail in defending its position in court.”
Kemp called the special session in May following the Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision, which limited the use of a section of the Voting Rights Act that allowed the creation of majority-minority districts to address racial disparities.
Advocate groups for voting rights have argued that this decision will further disenfranchise Black voters and benefit Republican candidates. According to a projection by Fair Fight Action and the Black Voters Matter Fund, Republicans could secure up to 19 U.S. House seats nationally because of the decision.
“Gov. Kemp’s special session is a direct attack on the political power that Black, Brown, and working-class Georgians have spent decades building,” Fair Fight Action wrote in a press release. “Experts believe the new voting maps for 2028 will be designed to erase electoral gains made by communities of color that helped reshape Georgia’s political landscape.”
Lauren Groh-Wargo from Fair Fight Action and Cliff Albright from the Black Voters Matter Fund were among the coalition of speakers who advocated against the redistricting during a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday. Other organizations represented in the coalition included the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, the ACLU of Georgia, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Georgia NAACP.
Local faith leaders also hosted an interfaith prayer service and rally against the redistricting at Big Bethel A.M.E. Church on Wednesday morning.
“Too often folks segment the LGBTQ community as other, but in Georgia all but one of the seven publicly out LGBTQ+ legislators currently serving in the Georgia legislature are people of color. The majority of them are Black and LGBTQ+,” Noël Heatherland, the Statewide Organizing and Outreach Director for Georgia Equality, said during the church rally. “Therefore, this is a clear attack on Black political power and also the political power of all LGBTQ+ people.”
While advocates are celebrating the decision to delay redistricting, they are also preparing to continue fighting for equal voting rights for Georgians.
“Georgians spoke up, organized, and made it clear an attack on Black and brown representation would not go quietly. Today, that pressure worked,” the Black Voters Matter Fund wrote on social media. “Notice what didn’t happen: an apology, an admission this was always wrong. Just a tactical retreat… It’s still unclear whether Georgia Senate Republicans will try to push their own maps through on their own.”
The Black Voters Matter Fund and other advocacy organizations will return to the Capitol on June 18 for a rally in honor of Juneteenth. The rally will begin at 11 a.m. at Liberty Plaza.
Related story: Georgia Runoff Election Results | June 16
