51.   The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has created some confusion in its recent decisions regarding the use of race in drawing electoral district lines.

52.   Then, two years later, after district lines have been redrawn and reelection prospects are more uncertain, the number of retirees jumps markedly.

53.   There are also new safeguards intended to reduce conflicts of interest, a minority affairs council and a redistricting commission to propose district lines after each federal census.

54.   These groups, mostly the urban and rural poor, tend to live in predominantly Democratic areas and therefore counting them might benefit that party in drawing district lines.

55.   They jammed meetings and staged demonstrations and filled district phone lines and spewed from talk radio like a spigot turned up fully to furious.

56.   They tweaked a few district lines to win wavering Democrats.

57.   This meant district lines that segregated black voters from white voters and thus also created lily-white districts that could elect Republicans who could safely ignore black concerns.

58.   This will create some temporary turmoil as the Georgia legislature redraws its district lines and other states with similar problems decide what to do.

59.   Third, to meet statutory requirements, state legislatures must sometimes consider race as a factor highly relevant to the drawing of district lines.

60.   Traditional districting practices were cast aside, the Court concluded, with race alone steering placement of district lines.