Following an intense round of congressional map revisions before the midterm elections, a nationwide struggle over partisan advantage is entering a fresh stage. This shift could reshape representation across issues ranging from tax policies and social programs to teacher compensation, housing rules and neighborhood infrastructure work.

Georgia's Republican-controlled Legislature plans to meet June 17 in a special session dedicated to redrawing lines for the 2028 cycle. The session will cover not only congressional boundaries but also those for the state House, Senate and possibly the utility oversight panel.

This effort represents the first state-level attempt to revise its own districts since a recent Supreme Court decision eased minority voting safeguards. Republicans in Mississippi and Democrats in New York may pursue similar legislative map changes ahead of their 2027 and 2028 elections.

It remains unclear how many other legislatures will join in, or whether the wave of off-cycle redistricting will reach county boards, city councils and school panels that handle numerous daily decisions. The effects could prove far-reaching.

"The stakes here are not political, they are deeply human," said Joe Kennedy III, founder of Groundwork Project, a nonprofit backing local civil rights and democracy groups.

District lines are normally adjusted once per decade following the census to reflect population shifts. Yet last summer President Donald Trump pressed Texas Republicans to redraw congressional maps in pursuit of extra midterm seats, prompting other states to launch their own partisan adjustments.

A subsequent 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in late April accelerated further activity. The decision invalidated a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana as an improper racial gerrymander, giving Republicans in additional states grounds to alter districts with sizable minority populations that currently favor Democrats.

A federal judge determined in 2023 that several of Georgia's congressional and legislative districts reflected racial bias. Lawmakers responded with updated maps featuring new majority-Black districts, though these produced minimal shifts in Republican control during the 2024 elections.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has summoned lawmakers for another special session to revise districts again following the Supreme Court Louisiana ruling. This step could enable Republicans to reverse the 2023 court-mandated adjustments and target other minority districts held by Democrats.

Republicans have not released specifics, but Democratic state Rep. Tanya Miller, a candidate for attorney general, criticized the session as an attempt at "rigging maps to maintain power."

Months before the Supreme Court decision, a Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter analysis projected that Republicans across 10 Southern states might eliminate 191 Democratic legislative seats, including 140 with Black or Hispanic majorities, should Voting Rights Act protections weaken.

"If anything, our report was an understatement," Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, told The Associated Press. "What's at stake is the future of this democracy."

Other observers anticipate fewer seats affected overall, yet they still foresee ripple effects from the ruling.

"We're going to potentially see a lot of frenzied efforts at every level, including at the local level, to try undoing district maps and configurations that have performed quite well in providing improved representation for communities of color," said Kareem Crayton, vice president of the Washington office of the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Supreme Court precedent is already influencing cases elsewhere. An appeals court is permitting Alabama to use a Republican-backed state Senate map for this year's elections rather than one previously ordered by a judge who identified dilution of Black voting strength. The adjustment impacts two Senate districts near Montgomery.

The Supreme Court has returned legislative redistricting suits from Black voters in Mississippi and Native American voters in North Dakota to lower courts for review under the Louisiana precedent. Washington's attorney general has sought similar treatment for cases involving Hispanic voters.

Roughly half the states bar mid-decade legislative redistricting through constitutional provisions, according to Justin Levitt, a Loyola Marymount University law professor who maintains the "All About Redistricting" site.

Even where permitted, lawmakers often see less reason to redraw their own districts than congressional ones, Levitt noted. Congressional efforts were frequently framed as necessary to offset opposing-party maps and secure maximum seats, given the narrow national House margin.

Most state legislative chambers, by contrast, already feature strong one-party control.

"There's a lot less incentive, if you already control the state legislature by 10 or 12 seats, to eke out an incremental one or two at the expense of really ticking off your own party membership, or at the expense of maybe risking losing seats in a broader way," Levitt said.

The Supreme Court decision has also touched local governments. Plaintiffs dropped a challenge to commission districts in Meriwether County, Georgia. A federal court requested new briefs in a DeSoto County, Mississippi, supervisors case. Indiana's attorney general urged an appeals court to consider the Louisiana ruling in a Lake County judicial selection dispute.

University of Michigan data indicate that over the past four decades, cities, counties and school boards accounted for more than three-fifths of the 466 lawsuits alleging Section 2 Voting Rights Act violations.

Still, local governments may not rush into redistricting. While the ruling eases partisan justifications, many municipal offices operate on a nonpartisan basis.