Last week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called a special legislative session for June 17 to redraw Georgia’s congressional, state legislative, and any other state office elected by district maps for 2028.
Kemp’s move is the most aggressive escalation yet in the Southern map-rigging rush set off by the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act.
After Donald Trump’s call on Republican states to redraw congressional maps, Kemp is going further than any other southern governor by also targeting the state legislative map and other districts.
In Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida, politicians have rushed to pass new congressional maps to silence Black and brown communities before the November midterms. Kemp is the first to take aim at state legislative power, too.
Lauren Groh-Wargo, Fair Fight Action CEO’s response:
“Every time Black and brown Georgians have built power at the ballot box, Brian Kemp has weaponized government power against them. Now Donald Trump has called on the South to rig voting maps – and Kemp is the first southern governor to answer by going after both the congressional and the state legislative maps. It’s a massive escalation and an aggressive attack on Black and brown Americans’ constitutional right to fair representation.
“Kemp is calling the legislature back on June 17 on the eve of Juneteenth to silence the voices of Black and brown Georgians – we’ll be there to meet them. We’ll pack the Capitol and make it clear he must get his hands off our votes.”
Background: Kemp’s Record of Targeting Black & Brown Voters
Kemp’s map rigging gambit is the continuation of a career-long pattern of using government power to suppress Black and brown voters in Georgia.
Kemp Told Republicans They Had to Stop “All These Minority Voters” From Registering and Voting:
During a 2014 meeting with Gwinnett County Republicans, Kemp said Democrats were “registering all these minority voters that are out there and others that are sitting on the sidelines.”
At a 2018 campaign event, Kemp said a large number of Democratic absentee ballot requests “continues to concern us, especially if everybody uses and exercises their right to vote, which they absolutely can.” Kemp offered testimony in a federal voting rights trial where he attempted to defend those past comments.
Kemp Admitted He Signed SB 202 Because He Was “Frustrated” With the Results of the 2020 Election:
In Georgia’s final GOP gubernatorial primary debate in 2022, Kemp revealed that his frustration with the results of the 2020 election was the driving force behind SB 202. Kemp said: “I was as frustrated with the results, especially at the federal level, and we did something about it with SB 202.”
Kemp signed SB 202 into law while sitting under a painting of a slave plantation. It’s one of the most egregious voter suppression laws in the country.
Data shows SB 202 Has a larger impact on Black voters than white voters.
On Kemp’s Watch, Georgia Closed More Polling Locations Than Any Other State:
After encouragement from Kemp to close voting locations, Georgia closed higher percentages of voting locations than any other state. Black Georgians made up a significant percentage of the population in several of the top counties where polls were closed.
Kemp Sent Armed Investigators to Black Neighborhoods After Local Organizers Flipped the Majority-White School Board:
As Secretary of State, Kemp launched an investigation into a group of Black women known as the Quitman 10+2 after they organized to flip the majority-white school board in their county.
Kemp sent armed investigators door-to-door in Black neighborhoods to arrest and charge the women, despite having no evidence of voter fraud.
After four years of facing charges over small “breaches of absentee ballot procedure,” all charges were dropped. Members of the Quitman 10+2 contemplated suicide and some older Black voters did not return to the polls.
Kemp Oversaw the Cancellation of More Than 1.4 Million Voter Registrations:
As Secretary of State, Kemp oversaw the cancellation of more than 1.4 million voter registrations, and low-income and minority Georgians were most likely to be impacted.
Of 53,000 Voter Registrations Kemp Put on Hold Just Before the 2018 Election Under “Exact Match,” Nearly 70% Were Black Voters:
Of the 53,000 voter registrations that Kemp put on hold just before the 2018 election under his exact match policy, nearly 70% were Black voters. A federal judge later ordered Georgia to ease the program, calling it a “severe burden” on some voters. Kemp went on to win the 2018 governor’s race over Stacey Abrams by approximately 55,000 votes.
Stay tuned for updates on how to get involved in opposing efforts to rig Georgia’s voting maps.
Fair Fight Action Team
White Americans across the country must understand the effect the drive to curtail Black and brown citizenship will have on their constitutional rights. They have to be cognizant of how gradually fascism takes hold of the population. At this point, their inaction is complicity, allowing the MAGA Republicans' rule to gain strength. What the southern states are doing is promoting racism in place of nationalism as a guiding principle. A time will come when only the most devoted racists will be in government at all levels. Trump is already using that process when his Republican detractors are primaried. The violence Trump is suggesting to interfere with the coming election will be directed toward people of color. It is vital to reinforce racial division. He has done that quite effectively in the past when he disparaged Barack Obama, ensuring the growth of the MAGA movement. Trump is not as sick as the media suggests; his evil intent is gaining traction, as evidenced by the southern states targeting Black people. Black people have grown socially and economically, which represents substantial consumer power. But Trump has control over the military and will massacre Black people as an act of retribution and a movement for white cohesion. The criminality by ICE in Minnesota and the killings in the Caribbean Sea are signs that he is willing to use indiscriminate violence. The power of the white citizenry is the only force that can defeat MAGA. What we are facing is the rejuvenation of the Nazi movement in Europe, and we know how devastating that was.