Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc v. Raffensperger

On December 30, 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, and WilmerHale filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and several individual Georgia voters challenging newly drawn state House and Senate district lines as unlawfully minimizing the voting strength of Black Georgians. The lawsuit charges that the newly drawn maps deny Black residents an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of choice, in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The court held an eight-day trial in September 2023. In October 2023, the district court ruled that the maps unlawfully diluted the voting strength of Black Georgians in multiple parts of the state and enjoined the state from using the enacted maps in future elections.

In response, the state appealed the ruling to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Pending that appeal, the Georgia General Assembly drew new maps that did not fix all of the injuries to Black voters that Plaintiffs proved in court. The court overruled our objections to those maps, which found that Georgia’s remedial map addressed Plaintiffs’ injuries. We are currently appealing that decision.