In Carter’s home county, voting rights case tests democracy

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter’s home county in rural south Georgia has been embroiled in a costly voting rights lawsuit that experts say could soon be replicated nationwide.
It began nearly a decade ago when African-Americans gained a majority on Sumter County’s school board. State lawmakers then enacted a redistricting plan that eventually returned control to whites.
Civil rights leaders sued the county, setting up an expensive legal battle with the American