ATLANTA — Georgia's Republican-led Legislature will convene for a special session on June 17, 2026, to redraw voting districts for the 2028 elections. Republican Governor Brian Kemp called lawmakers into a special session to redraw districts following a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
In 2023, a federal judge ruled that some of Georgia's congressional, state Senate, and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling in late April 2026, which struck down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana. The court found this district to be an illegal racial gerrymander.
The agenda for Georgia's special session includes new voting districts for the state House and Senate. It may also address new districts for the state's utility regulatory commission. Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, said, "What's at stake is the future of this democracy." Kareem Crayton, vice president of the Washington office of the Brennan Center for Justice, said, "We’re going to potentially see a lot of frenzied efforts at every level, including at the local level, to try out undoing district maps and configurations that have performed quite well in providing improved representation for communities of color."
A report by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter forecast that Republicans in 10 Southern states could eliminate 191 Democratic-held legislative seats if federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities were removed. Albright said of that report, "If anything, our report was an understatement."