ATLANTA—Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered the Georgia General Assembly to convene for a special session on June 17 to begin creating new maps for Georgia’s Congressional, State Representatives and State Senate districts.
Kemp issued the call on Wednesday, May 13, in a proclamation. The new redistricting maps would become effective for the 2028 election cycle, he said.
Kemp’s orders follow the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais that struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana, altering established interpretations of the1965 Voting Rights Act.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat who represents Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District, said the Republican Gov. Kemp’s special session is an attempt to further “rig” Georgia’s political maps. Johnson, whose district includes portions of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, issued the following statement:
“Last month, the MAGA (Make America Great Again) Supreme Court gave states the go-ahead to deprive Black people of the opportunity to elect a representative of their choice by undoing what’s left of the Voting Rights Act. Now, MAGAs under the Gold Dome are taking orders from the White House to use that ruling to strip away the voices of Black voters in Georgia. Their cowardly push to eliminate our hard-won rights makes me feel like our democracy can’t breathe – like they have a foot on the neck of the rights of the American people. We’re going to take that foot off the neck of democracy by exercising our right to vote. We shall do so in November, and we shall do so in 2028, and beyond. We’ll be prepared for what happens. And it’s not going to be just us. It’s going to be right-thinking people in Georgia and around this country who are going to join us to end this tyranny.”
State Rep. Dar’Shun Kendrick (District 95) issued an alert to constituents in her e-newsletter this week regarding the special session:
“The Governor has decided to follow so many Republican Governors in the wake of the Lousiana vs. Callais decision and redistrict Congressional, State House and Senate district maps to SUPRESS the black vote! I will be there and ready to fight,” Kendrick stated.
Below is the proclamation issued by Gov. Kemp:
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