Legislature to go ahead with special redistricting session

Republican legislators aren’t happy with the order from a federal judge that they redraw Georgia’s Congressional and legislative district maps to more fairly represent Black voters. But they rejected a strategy to ask for a stay of the process until after the 2024 election. That decision means they’ll go ahead with a special map-drawing session that Governor Kemp has set to begin on November 29, even as Republicans plan their appeal of the order. On yesterday’s podcast, Republican Speaker of the Georgia House Jon Burns said he thought the legislature would come up with maps that would please Federal Judge Steve Jones, who ordered the redrawing of districts. Today, State Representative Saira Draper joins the podcast to offer the Democratic point of view on the special session.

Then, the team discusses the frank interview that Frank Hogue, attorney for Jenna Ellis gave to AJC Breakdown podcast hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman. Hogue talked about how quickly he and his client were able to agree on a plea deal for Ellis, one of the defendants in the Fani Willis Trump Election conspiracy case.

Plus, Georgia GOP state senators upbraided the secretary of state’s office for failing to install upgrades to the Dominion voting system. They worry that without the upgrades the machines are vulnerable to being hacked. The secretary of state’s office pointed out that the upgrade would have to be done manually in each of the state’s 40,000 Dominion voting machines.

Have a question for the show? Call the 24-hour Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline at 404-526-AJCP. That's 404-526-2527. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the Listener Mailbag segment on next Friday’s episode. 

Links to today's topics:

Georgia won't try to stall redistricting session

Judge Jones' redistricting ruling

Jenna Ellis' lawyer talks guilty plea

Breakdown podcast with Frank Hogue

Senators press for more election security

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