What is a special session? Kemp calls lawmakers back for redistricting

Georgia state lawmakers are heading back to Atlanta and the Gold Dome this summer.

Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday announced a proclamation for a special legislative session, calling the state's legislators to return for a short session outside of the regular annual schedule.

The special session will begin at 2 p.m. June 17, a day after any potential midterm primary election runoffs are held.

Here's what to know.

What is a special session?

A special session in Georgia occurs when items or bills are passed during the normal 40-day session that ended in April, but they weren't completed. The governor has the power to call the legislature back to wrap up the loose ends or even open a new debate.

It's not uncommon in Georgia to call a special session, and Kemp has already done so twice before, once in 2021 and again in 2023.

"We have a relatively short legislative session," Andra Gillespie, an associate professor in political science at Emory University, told USA TODAY in an interview. "The governor has the right to recall the state legislature to deal with any important unfinished business."

Lawmakers were already expecting to be called back this summer after the General Assembly passed a law requiring the state to change its voting machines, remove QR codes, and complete other voting reforms. The deadline to allocate money for the change is July 1.

Now, Kemp has added redistricting talks to the table.

What is being debated during the special session?

According to Kemp's proclamation, the legislature will come together to "consider enacting, revising, repealing, or amending general law for the division of the State into appropriate districts" as well as "address issues created by .. S.B. 189," or the voting reforms.

The legislatures will have to find an alternative to the current ballot-scanning machines that use QR codes, likely opting for something like hand-marked paper ballots instead, in the fallout of the 2020 election in Georgia, where a significant portion of the MAGA base alleges votes were stolen in Fulton County.

Any redistricting changes would go into effect for the 2028 election cycle and would not impact the midterm races currently running in Georgia.

While the voting machine changes were expected, adding redistricting to the docket comes as states across the country scramble to redraw congressional maps in the wake of the Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision. Texas, California, Virginia, and Tennessee have already started the process of redistricting their states.

"Governor Kemp could have said, 'I'm not going to raise redistricting as an issue. I will leave it for the next legislative session," Gillespie said, given that the changes won't go into effect until 2028. "But the risk is that you can have a Democratic governor who wouldn't sign such a change into law this time next year. While I would expect that Republicans will still control both the state House and state Senate, you never know. ... So from a Republican standpoint, it certainly makes sense to kind of strike while the iron is hot, if you will."

Georgia joins national redistricting race

Georgia is far from the first state to try to redistrict during this election cycle, but it is different in how the new districts could be drawn. Unlike Tennessee, where the city of Memphis was split to eliminate the only Democratic-held seat left in the state, redistricting in Georgia will be unable to eliminate all Democratic strongholds, according to Gillespie.

"It also just makes perfect sense that the districts that are most vulnerable are the ones — and I'm thinking about this from the congressional level and also from the state legislative standpoint — are Democratic districts that are geographically isolated and those are going to be more susceptible to cracking, if you will," Gillespie said.

And it's not a sure thing.

Gillespie explained that by splitting up some Democratic voting blocks, it may be dividing a Democratic majority, but it is also adding Democratic voters to districts that have been more easily won by Republicans in the past, thereby making them slightly more competitive. In theory, a district today that was easily won by a Republican could become up for grabs if redistricting adds blue voters for the 2028 election cycle.

"The Callais decision coupled with the partisan gerrymandering war that we're in right now that started when President Trump asked Texas to redistrict, and we see Democratic states respond in kind, and then you see other Republican states kind of respond in kind, I think this is going to be the new normal until the people make it stop," Gillespie said.

Irene Wright covers politics in Georgia as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at [email protected].