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Election Law Litigation

Kidd v. Cox

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(page last updated October 31, 2007 at 12:03 PM)

Case Information

All Courts: U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia (Case 1:06-cv-00997-BBM)
Topic(s): Redistricting
State: Georgia
Date Filed: April 25, 2006
Date Ended: May 30, 2006

Summary

In 2002, the Georgia state legislature adopted a new redistricting plan; however, the constitutionality of this plan was challenged in federal court in the case of Larios v. Perdue and found unconstitutional as the districts were held to be not sufficiently equal in population. Having failed to adopt a new constitutional district map by a Court imposed deadline, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia appointed a Special Master who created a legislative apportionment map that the Court found created districts with populations as equal as was practicable. No challenges or appeals were brought to the adoption of this plan.

The state legislature has now adopted S.B. 386, a plan to redraw districts in several counties within the state of Georgia. Plaintiffs, registered Democratic voters and a nominee for the State Senate in Athens-Clarke County, are challenging this new reapportionment as they claim this plan was adopted, by a Republican dominated state legislature, in order to divide Athens-Clarke County, an historically competitive voting district, into separate districts in order to dilute the voting power of Democrats within this county.

As evidence of the fact this redistricting was politically motivated, Plaintiffs point to such evidence as: (1) Athens-Clarke County has never previously been divided into separate districts; (2) the party-line voting by both houses of the General Assembly; (3) the stated purpose of this redistricting, to restore Madison County into a single voting district, could have been obtained through another plan with more equal district populations and the maintenance of Athens-Clarke County in a single district; and, (4) the reapportionment plan having been presented only after the Republican incumbent representing the Athens-Clarke district had stated he would not seek reelection. Plaintiffs claim that this new district map directly contravenes with the earlier Court order in Larios v. Perdue, and now seek a declaration that this new reapportionment is unconstitutional and an injunction preventing the use of the same in any future elections.

District Court Documents

Larios v. Perdue Court Documents

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, Case No. 1:03-cv-00693-CAP

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