AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – (AP) – Challengers on Thursday told a federal appeals court that Georgia lawmakers are still violating Black voters’ rights after redrawing the state’s congressional and legislative maps.

If judges uphold the challenges, they could order different district lines to be used in Georgia for the rest of the decade, making it possible that more districts would elect candidates favored by Black voters — usually Democrats.

The voting rights groups argued in three cases that lawmakers created additional majority-Black districts, but didn’t do enough to address the harms suffered in the areas where they proved at trial that there was illegal vote dilution.

For state Senate and House maps, the area in question is in Atlanta’s southern suburbs. For the congressional map, it’s in areas north and west of downtown Atlanta. But lawmakers drew in Black voters in other parts of the metro area to make new Black-majority districts.

“Going to a different part of Atlanta to create opportunities for Black voters is not sufficient,” said Ari Savitzky, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union representing those challenging state legislative maps.

Lawyers for the state, defending the current maps, say that the state has complied with a court ruling ordering new maps and that the challengers can’t demand new districts in exact locations. Stephen Petrany, Georgia’s solicitor general, says the challengers are really trying to elect more Democrats, and that the court shouldn’t let them use the lawsuits to do that.

“Are these the right number of districts? Yes. Are they in the right area? Yes,” Petrany told judges. “That is the end of this case.”

Judge Adalberto Jordan said any decision on redrawing maps would wait until after a ruling on a separate challenge to U.S. District Judge Steve Jones’ original decision by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In that case, argued in January, Raffensperger contends that Jones’ decision should be overturned and the state should revert to the maps that lawmakers drew in 2021 before Jones ruled they were illegal under the 1964 Voting Rights Act. Section 2 of that law protects minority voters.

The challengers have a steep climb. Jones ruled in 2023 after a trial that lines were drawn to illegally dilute Black votes. But he accepted maps drawn by lawmakers in special session as fixing the illegalities. For the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the map, the judges must rule that Jones abused his discretion.

Jones rejected claims that the new maps didn’t do enough to help Black voters. Jones said he couldn’t interfere with legislative choices, even if Republicans moved to protect their power. But challengers say Jones was too deferential to lawmakers even when he had already found they had acted illegally.

Jordan repeatedly pushed the challengers on how many of the affected voters had to be included in new districts. Lawyers for the challengers said there was no set standard, but that Georgia lawmakers hadn’t done enough.

Abha Khanna, representing challengers in two lawsuits said the new map “laundered Black voters across districts deftly to create the illusion of new opportunities.”

While the maps created additional Black-majority districts, they also locked in Republican advantages. In a state where GOP candidates in competitive races win at best 53% or 54% of the vote statewide, Republicans hold 64% of congressional seats, or 9 of 14. They hold 59% of state Senate seats, or 33 of 56. The state House is a little closer to parity, with Republicans holding 100 of 180 seats, or 56%.

If the current maps are not overturned, Georgia is likely to use them through the 2030 state elections.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Chase Bank on Thursday celebrated the opening of its first retail branch in Augusta at Washington Road and Alexander Drive in front of the Kroger.

National and local leaders from the bank came to the city to celebrate the opening and to announce plans to open up to six branches in the region over the next three years.

With 115 branches and more than 2,000 employees in the state, Chase’s presence in Georgia has been growing since 2008.

Chase already has a strong customer base in Augusta, serving nearly 70,000 consumers and more than 3,000 businesses.

Chase will be hiring bankers, branch managers, business bankers, and financial advisors from the local area.

Chase says its branches combine modern design, open layout, and state-of-the-art banking technology to reflect how customers engage today. The new National Hills branch exemplifies this approach, providing a welcoming environment for customers and offering a range of services through a team of employees including a Chase Private Client adviser, relationship bankers, a home lending adviser, and a business banker, according to the company.

The branch also features both walk-up and drive-up ATMs.

“When we come to a community, we aim to be a trusted, long-term partner in the financial journeys of our customers. Augusta is no exception,” said Roxann Cooke, regional director of consumer banking at Chase. “As we get to know the people and businesses of Augusta– and they get to know us – we hope to help as many people as possible achieve their financial goals, while also driving the community’s overall growth and well-being. With this new branch here at National Hills, we are on our way.”

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Veterans in Augusta were getting connected with resources Wednesday at a VA expo.

Organizations are coming in as far as Washington, D.C., to help veterans.

Veterans receive help filing VA benefits claims, applying for jobs and getting other resources on suicide prevention and their homeless program.

“VA Augusta has a really strong homeless veteran program. It was ranked number one in the nation for the amount of folks they placed into permanent housing. We got a really robust program with several staff members located both in South Carolina and in Georgia. If any of the homeless veterans or folks are at risk, they can show up, there’s someone here who can help them through the process, hopefully get them permanent housing in a hurry,” said Will Martin, chief of public affairs, VA Augusta.

Martin says Augusta.va.gov can also help veterans with resources.

“We have a growing veteran population in the area, with Eisenhower so close, a lot of folks transition. They like the area and they stay in the area, so they need VA care. So, I think the real push for this is just to make sure we are keeping up with the growing VA population in the area, especially VA Augusta wants to make sure we are meeting that need,” said Martin.

Earlier this month, the VA Augusta health system announced some events and initiatives that are aimed at enhancing veterans’ mental health in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.

For the first time, the VA Augusta healthcare system is accepting involuntary psychiatric admissions.

Leaders say this is a pivotal move to helping our veterans by removing the barriers to help people experiencing an immediate crisis.

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