Republican state lawmakers in Georgia are reaching down to redraw election districts for county officials in Democratic-controlled counties, a power grab possible in part because there’s no federal oversight of redistricting in Georgia for the first time in decades.
The Republican-majority legislature is seeking to impose its own maps in as many as four large counties, which collectively have more than 2 million residents. Republicans say their maps better comply with federal law and keep communities together. But Democrats say they’re driven by partisan and racial motives, threatening lawsuits to overturn the maps.
“It’s a petite coup of our local government,” said Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Melissa Link, who could be drawn out of her district and blocked from running for reelection this year.
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