The NAACP [advocacy website] on Monday announced a lawsuit [press release] against the state of Georgia, claiming that state’s 2015 voter redistricting was discriminatory. The group claims [US News report] that lawmakers redrew voting district lines for political gain at the expense of minority voters. The complaint asks that a three-judge panel review the redistricting and order the lawmakers to re-draw the districts in question. Furthermore, the NAACP has asked that no elections be held using the changed district lines. The lawsuit is namely concerned with the 105th and 111th district which plaintiffs argued saw a slight decrease in minority voters.

Voting rights and how voters are grouped and counted has become and increasingly important issue over the past year. In January the Department of Justice sued [JURIST report] Detroit Suburbs over a potential Voting Rights Act violation regarding the ability of minorities to elect other minority members as council members. Earlier that week the US Supreme Court blocked [JURIST report] a ruling ordering the redrawing of the congressional district map and special elections to be held in North Carolina. This came after the Supreme Court heard arguments [JURIST report] in racial gerymanderings cases from Virginia and North Carolina in December. In September several organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging Georgia’s voter registration system [JURIST report]. Last April the Supreme Court unanimously upheld [JURIST report] an Arizona commission’s decisions regarding the redistricting of voting districts in the state.