In a ruling on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones accepted Georgia's new congressional and legislative voting districts, stating that the addition of new majority-Black voting districts addressed the issue of minority vote dilution that led to the previous maps being deemed illegal. The decision came after the maps were redrawn during a special legislative session following Jones' October ruling.

Jones dismissed claims that the new maps did not do enough to support Black voters, explaining that he could not interfere with legislative choices, even if they were made to protect Republican power. The revised maps included the addition of Black-majority districts, as ordered by the judge, including one in Congress, two in the state Senate, and five in the state House.

However, critics argued that Republicans took advantage of the opportunity to redraw the maps in some Democratic-held districts without Black majorities, favoring their own party. One of the districts affected is Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath's 7th Congressional District in suburban Atlanta.

McBath responded by stating that she would seek reelection in the newly formed 6th Congressional District in Fulton, Cobb, Douglas, and Fayette counties if the current congressional map is not overturned on appeal. She expressed her determination not to let "an extremist few Republicans" determine her future in Congress.

The redrawing of Georgia's districts this year was part of a series of redistricting actions across the South, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold the 1964 Voting Rights Act in June, allowing Black voters to seek changes through the court system. However, unlike other cases, the Georgia situation has played out differently due to the limitations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, allowing Republicans to make changes to districts with white majorities or no ethnic majority.

With the judge's approval, the redrawn maps are set to be used in the 2024 elections. As a result, the current 9-5 Republican majority among Georgia's 14 congressional seats and the 33-23 GOP margin in the Senate are likely to be maintained. In the state House, where Republicans hold a 102-78 majority, Democrats may gain one or two seats.

While plaintiffs and allied Democrats expressed disappointment with the ruling, there was no immediate announcement of an appeal. However, time for an appeal is limited due to the upcoming 2024 elections.

State Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, a Democrat, accused the Republican maps of being an ongoing violation of the Voting Rights Act, while ACLU lawyer Ari Savitsky argued that the new maps failed to adequately address the injuries suffered by Black voters.

Republican leaders, on the other hand, viewed the ruling as affirmation that they were able to meet the requirements to include more majority-Black districts while still preserving their party's power.

The voters and civic groups who filed the lawsuit to challenge the 2021 maps argued that the new ones did not correct the problems identified by Judge Jones. However, Jones maintained that lawmakers were not limited to only fixing those specific districts and that the objections raised by the plaintiffs were not sufficient grounds for rejecting the maps.

Regarding the congressional map, the debate centered on the legality of dissolving McBath's district while simultaneously creating a new Black-majority 6th District west of downtown Atlanta. The plaintiffs contended that this constituted a violation of the Voting Rights Act, specifically Section 2. Judge Jones stated that he did not have enough evidence to address that claim and suggested that the plaintiffs would need to file a new lawsuit to pursue their assertions of harm to minority voters caused by the dissolution of McBath's current district.

Overall, the approval of Georgia's redrawn maps sets the stage for the 2024 elections, with both parties preparing for a fierce political battle in the coming year.