Voting Rights Act: Still Necessary In Georgia?

A YouTube Video posted by Democrats from the House Ways and Means Committee captures part of the exchange between Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Paul Broun, proposed elimination of funding for a part of the federal Voting Rights Act.

A YouTube video shows part of an exchange between Georgia's 10th District U.S. Rep. Paul Broun and 5th District Rep. John Lewis. Lewis, whose district comprises all of East Atlanta Patch, confronts Broun over an amendment Broun proposed that would would eliminate funding for Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires federal oversight of voting laws in Georgia and several other states. Broun — who under new District 10 boundaries will represent much of Northeast Georgia, including most of Athens-Clarke County; all of Oconee, Walton and Barrow; and part of Gwinnett — is shown withdrawing the amendment after Lewis' remarks. No doubt, many black Americans of a certain generation in the South remember when voting was a priviledge not …

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Old Fourth Ward Divided Under New Map

A public hearing has been set for Monday on the new proposal for city council districts.

The Old Fourth Ward is split into two different Atlanta City Council districts under the latest map being considered by the council as part of its redistricting process. “Unfortunately we had to divide the Old Fourth Ward into districts 2 and 5 to meet the needed demographics and population shifts,” said Councilman Kwanza Hall, who represents District 2. “We have to adhere to the guidelines of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prevents historically black voting districts from being diluted in terms of their voting strength.” Hall said most of the Old Fourth Ward would be in his district, with the remainder in a district currently represented by Natalyn Archibong. “District 2 was a critical issue because its population increased …

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Patch Voices

Sen. Carter: Republicans Misrepresent Voting Acts Act

Proposed redistricting map is racial retrogression in voting

by Jason J. Carter I am convinced that redistricting is important. Make no mistake: this is where we create the rules of our political system. In making these maps, our legislature defines the very structure of our democracy. Over the course of the last few weeks, I have heard others misstate and misapply the law; and perpetuate intentional falsehoods about the Voting Rights Act. And I don’t know that I understood the magnitude of what was going on until this last weekend. I kept trying to understand how the majority party could read the law and understand our history and come to the conclusion that they were correct about the Voting Rights Act. And, as I sat with Rep. John Lewis before his testimony in the House Reapportionment Committee …

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