North Georgia Annual Conference

For conference action · Resolution

Resolution on Voting Rights & Civic Engagement

Resolution · 2026

A resolution responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's 6–3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais (April 29, 2026) and a called June 17, 2026 special session of the Georgia Legislature to redraw district maps. Grounded in the UMC Constitution (¶5), the Social Principles (¶¶162–163), and the prophets (Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8), and naming the Church's own history of racial exclusion, it calls North Georgia United Methodists to lament the decision, advocate for voting-rights justice, and use and protect the vote.

For Conference Action.

The resolution recites that the Supreme Court's 6–3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais (April 29, 2026) dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, permitting the dismantling of majority-Black congressional districts, and that a special session of Georgia's legislature was called for June 17, 2026 to draw new district maps. It grounds the Church's witness in Scripture ("let justice roll down like water…" — Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8), the UMC Constitution ¶5 (working to address threats to racial justice), and the Social Principles ¶¶162–163 (rejecting laws that marginalize by race; naming equal treatment before the law and democracy as basic human rights). It names the denomination's own history — the racially segregated Central Jurisdiction (1939) — and Georgia's history of voter suppression.

Resolved, that members of the North Georgia Conference lament the Louisiana v. Callais decision and call on all North Georgia United Methodists to advocate for justice in voting rights; and

Further resolved, urging United Methodists in North Georgia to engage their civic responsibilities — especially to use their vote, an avenue historically denied to so many people of color and women.

Source: 2026 NGC — Resolution on Voting Rights and Encouraging Civic Engagement (final, with line numbers)

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