Georgia Republicans approve new US House map, setting up fresh court battle

In order to preserve Republicans' statewide advantage, however, lawmakers dismantled a heavily minority district represented by Democratic U.S. Representative Lucy McBath, a move that Democrats said contravenes a federal judge's ruling.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in October threw out the state's old congressional map, finding it diluted Black voters' power in violation of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in elections.

The ruling also said lawmakers could not remedy the problem "by eliminating minority districts elsewhere."