The Department of Justice entered into a consent decree with Sandy Springs, Georgia, allowing the city to "bailout" from the Section 5

preclearance requirements of the Voting Rights Act. As DOJ's press release indicates, "The bailout standard requires that a covered jurisdiction demonstrate nondiscriminatory behavior for 10 years prior to filing."

Sandy Springs is the first jurisdiction in Georgia permitted to make use of the bailout.

Sandy Springs was represented by Doug Chalmers of FSB FisherBroyles of Atlanta, Georgia and Jason Torchinsky of Holtzman Vogel of Washington, D.C.

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