Lawyer: Too late for Georgia to change maps for the midterms

Timing, jurisdiction and whether to consolidate the cases were among the issues discussed during a hearing Wednesday that involved three judges and a dozen attorneys. (John Bazemore/AP Photo)

It’s essentially already too late to make any changes sought by lawsuits challenging Georgia’s new congressional and legislative maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections, a lawyer for state officials said Wednesday.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed the new maps for congressional and state legislative districts into law on Dec. 30. Three lawsuits challenging the maps were immediately filed that day, and two more have been filed since then by individual voters, voting rights groups and other organizations.

Lawyers for those critics of the new maps rejected the idea that January is too late to make changes when the general election isn’t until November.