Georgia's June 17 Session Could Wipe Out Black Districts Before Anyone Sees the Maps

Five Days Out, No Maps

Governor Brian Kemp signed a proclamation on May 13 convening the Georgia General Assembly for a special session on June 17. The agenda: redraw congressional, state Senate, and state House maps in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling on April 29. As of this writing, no draft maps have been released to the public.

The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus protested at the Capitol on May 15. Chair Sen. Nikki Merritt called the session an attempt to silence Black voters. Lawmakers from both chambers acknowledged they have not seen proposed maps but said the scope extends beyond Congress to every level of state government.

What Changed

At first, Kemp ruled out redistricting before the 2026 elections, citing ongoing primaries. Two weeks later, he reversed himself and called the session. The new maps will not apply to the 2026 cycle. They will take effect for 2028, locking in new boundaries for the next decade of Georgia elections.

Kemp’s proclamation also directs lawmakers to address ballot QR codes. Under a 2024 state law, QR codes cannot be used for the official ballot count after July 1. That deadline gives lawmakers cover to frame the session as routine.

Districts at Risk

Georgia currently has four majority-Black congressional districts. The Callais ruling removes the legal requirement to maintain them. NBC News reported that as many as 19 Congressional Black Caucus members nationwide could lose their seats. Georgia accounts for the largest concentration of vulnerable districts in a single state.

District	Current rep	Area	Risk level
CD-2	Open (southwest GA)	Albany, Valdosta, rural Black Belt	High. Rural district vulnerable to cracking.
CD-4	Hank Johnson (D)	DeKalb County, east metro Atlanta	Moderate. Could be redrawn to absorb white suburbs.
CD-5	Nikema Williams (D)	Atlanta core, Fulton/Clayton	Moderate. Urban core makes it harder to crack.
CD-13	Open (south metro Atlanta)	Clayton, Henry, Fayette counties	High. Suburban sprawl makes boundaries easy to shift.

State legislative seats face similar exposure. A Black Voters Matter study found 191 state legislative seats across the South are at risk, with Georgia among the hardest-hit states. The Brennan Center warns the damage will extend to county commissions and school boards that receive no national media coverage.

“The majority’s rule renders Section 2 all but a dead letter.”

— Justice Elena Kagan, dissenting in Louisiana v. Callais

Public Hearings

The House and Senate redistricting committees will hold joint virtual and in-person meetings before the session begins. Sign-up links are supposed to appear on the General Assembly website one week before each hearing. Speakers get two to five minutes. If past sessions are any guide, that window will be short.

What You Can Do

Demand draft maps before June 17. Call Gov. Kemp’s office at (404) 656-1776 and your state legislators through the Georgia General Assembly directory. No legislator should vote on maps the public has not seen.
Show up to hearings. Watch the General Assembly website for hearing dates. Sign up for virtual testimony the moment registration opens.
Contact your U.S. representatives. Use Resistbot to tell your members of Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore the protections Callais destroyed.
Track the national picture. This session is one piece of a nine-state redistricting wave. Georgia is not acting alone, and neither should you.
Connect with organizers. Fair Districts GA is tracking proposed maps and organizing testimony. Common Cause Georgia is running redistricting education events statewide.

The June 17 session is five days away. The maps are not public. The Civil Rights and Racial Justice page has the full context on what the Callais ruling means and what is being lost across the country.