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She Ahuattce The ADVANCE, November 3, 2021/Page 13A
Maps
continued from page 1A
on maps that fairly reflect
Georgia/’ said state Sen.
Elena Parent, D-Atlanta.
“We’ve had a lot of growth
in minority groups. We
believe the maps should
reflect these significant
changes.”
But with Republicans
in control of the General
Assembly any map Demo
crats suggest - whether a
congressional map or pro
posed boundaries for state
House and Senate districts
- promises to be dead on
arrival.
For the GOP, the key
question will be whether
to try to regain one of the
two congressional seats in
Atlanta’s northern suburbs
lost to the Democrats dur
ing the last two election
cycles or go for broke and
try to take back both seats.
A congressional map
Georgia Senate Republi
cans released in late Sep
tember appears to take the
more cautious approach. It
goes after the 6th Congres
sional District seat Rep.
Lucy McBath, D -Marietta,
won in 2018 by moving
heavily Republican Forsyth
County into the district
and removing portions of
North Fulton and North
DeKalb counties more
friendly to Democrats.
Brian Robinson, a
former top aide to then-
Gov. Nathan Deal and a
Republican political com
mentator, said Democratic
inroads in recent years
have left the GOP without
the voting strength to take
back both the 6th and 7th
district seats.
“We can’t draw 6 and 7
as Republican districts,” he
said. “But the opportunity
is there to bring back one
Republican.”
Earlier this month,
the Princeton Gerryman
dering Project, along with
RepresentUs, a nonparti
san anti-corruption organi
zation, gave the GOP map
a “C” on its Redistricting
Report Card, based on
partisan fairness, competi
tiveness and geographic
features. The organization
said its “C” grade means
the proposed map is aver
age, and could be better but
also worse.
The same report card
gave the Democrats’ map a
“B” for partisan fairness and
said the map would give a
slight partisan advantage to
Democrats. It also gave the
Democratic map two “C’s”
for competitiveness and
geographic features.
“If all levels of govern
ment are to be responsive
to the needs of Georgians
in education, health care,
and infrastructure for the
next 10 years, the state
needs a community-based
districting process,” said
Jack Genberg, an attorney
for the Southern Poverty
Law Center. “So far in this
process, the leaders of the
Georgia legislature have
shown a disdain for the
public and their needs.
They’ve run a sham pro
cess.”
Genberg said legisla
tors scheduled all of their
community meetings on
redistricting before census
numbers were actually re
leased.
“Legislators made
these pre-data, pre-guide-
line meetings inaccessible
to wide swaths of Geor
gians whose first language
is not English, Georgians
with mobility issues and
other disabilities, those
who are hearing impaired,
and people unable to at
tend in-person events dur
ing a resurging pandemic
or because of work or fam
ily obligations,” Genberg
said.
RepresentUS recently
ranked Georgia as one of
35 states that are most at-
risk for partisan gerryman
dering. The organization
said risks are high because
new election maps can be
controlled and drawn by
politicians in secret and
rigged for partisan gain. It
also said so-called “rigged”
election maps are hard to
challenge in court.
Democrats say their
map also is likely to lead
to a 7-7 split in Georgia’s
congressional delegation.
Currently, there are eight
Republicans in Congress
representing Georgia and
six Democrats.
“Georgia has changed
significantly over the last
decade, and our proposed
congressional map reflects
that growth,” said U.S.
Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-
Columbus. “Georgia voters
should choose their rep
resentatives, not the other
way around, and this map
guarantees that.”
The GOP map was
overseen by Lt. Gov. Geoff
Duncan and state Sen. John
Kennedy, R-Macon, who
chairs the Senate Reappor
tionment and Redistricting
Committee.
“This map not only
meets principles of redis
tricting, but we are proud
to present a map that re
gardless of political party,
Georgians can be proud of,”
Duncan said when the map
was released. “Ensuring
that any maps we produce
are fair, compact, and keep
communities of interest to
gether will continue to be
of upmost importance.”
Current Congressional Districts
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When You See News Happen
Redistricting Facts
Redistricting is the process of drawing new congres
sional and state legislative district boundaries. Upon
completion of the 2020 census, Georgia will draff and
enact new district maps.
Georgia's 14 United States representatives and 236
state legislators are all elected from political divisions
called districts. District lines are redrawn every 10 years
following completion of the United States census. Fed
eral law stipulates that districts must have nearly equal
populations and must not discriminate on the basis of
race or ethnicity.
Gina Wright is the Executive Director of the Office
of Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment, a
nonpartisan joint office of the General Assembly that
serves the Senate and the House. She explained the pro
cess which will create new or modified districts in Geor
gia. “As the population in our state grows, the number of
people in each district must be adjusted so the popula
tion in each district is as close to equal as practicable. This
is done by redistricting or modifying the boundary lines
of the districts.”
In Georgia the new 2020 census resident population
total is 10, 711, 908 people. Because of this population
increase each of the state’s 14 congressional districts will
have to adjust to have 765,136 people in them. At the
state level the legislative branch of government has 56
state senators and 180 representatives in the state House
elected by districts.
“The state senatorial districts will be redrawn to now
include around 191, 284 people. State House districts
will also need to increase in population size to around
59,511 people,” Wright explained.
Redistricting Committees
In the Georgia General Assembly there is a standing
committee on redistricting in both the House and Senate.
Each committee has a chairman. In the House, Bonnie
Rich, who represents District 97, has served as chairman
of the committee since 2019. John F. Kennedy, who rep
resents District 18 in the Senate, is her Senate counter
part.
The following individuals were assigned to the Sen
ate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee in
the 2020 cycle: John F. Kennedy (R), Chairman; Bill
Cowsert, (R), Vice Chairman; Jeff Mullis, (R), Ex-Offi
cio; and members, Tonya Anderson, (D), Dean Burke,
(R), Gloria Butler, (D), Greg Dolezal, (R), Mike Dugan,
(R), Steve Gooch, (R), Marty Harbin, (R), Ed Harbi-
son, (D), Harold V. Jones II, (D), Butch Miller, (R), Mi
chael “Doc” Rhett, (D), and Blake Tillery, (R).
The following individuals were assigned to the
House Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee
in the 2020 cycle: Bonnie Rich, (R), Chair, Darlene Tay
lor, (R), Vice Chair, Susan Holmes, (R), Secretary; and
members, Richard H. Smith, (R), Lynn Smith, (R), Carl
Gilliard, (D), Ed Setzler, (R), Randy Nix, (R), Jan Jones,
(R), Mack Jackson, (D), Barry Fleming, (R), Chuck
Draft- Georgia Congressional Districts
GOP's Draft for Proposed Congressional
Districts (September 27)
Efstration, (R), Matt Dollar, (R), Kimberly Alexander,
(D), Buddy DeLoach, (R), Mandi Ballinger, (R), Sandra
Scott, (D), Edward Stephens, (D).
Drafting Process
In Georgia, both congressional and state legislative
district lines are drawn by the state legislature. A simple
majority in each chamber is required to approve redis
tricting plans, which are subject to veto by the governor.
The Georgia Constitution requires that state legisla
tive districts be contiguous. There are no similar require
ments for congressional districts.
In 2011, the House redistricting committee released
guidelines recommending the following for both con
gressional and state legislative districts:
1. prohibition of multi-member districts
2. consideration of county and precinct boundaries
3. compactness
4. consideration of communities of interest
The committee also suggested that "efforts should be
made to avoid the unnecessary pairing of incumbents"
within single districts. These are not legal requirements
and as such, they may be altered at anytime.
Process Timeline
The U.S. Census Bureau delivered apportionment
counts on April 26, 2021. Georgia was apportioned 14
seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. This repre
sented neither a gain nor a loss of seats as compared to
apportionment after the 2010 census
On February 12, 2021, the Census Bureau an
nounced that it would deliver redistricting data to the
states by September 30, 2021. On March 15, 2021, the
Census Bureau released a statement indicating it would
make redistricting data available to the states in a legacy
format in mid-to-late August 2021. A legacy format pres
ents the data in raw form, without data tables and other
access tools.
In early June 2021, Georgia lawmakers scheduled a
series of public hearings on redistricting. The last hearing
was held virtually on July 30.
Wright explained that traditionally the governor
calls a special session in late summer or early fall follow
ing arrival of the new census data. The sole purpose this
session is to adopt newly redrawn maps for all statewide
district plans and may also include new maps for local
county commissions or school board districts. “The ses
sion occurs so that all county election officials will have
sufficient time to update voter district assignments once
the process is complete prior to elections the next year,”
Wright said.
After the General Assembly adopts new maps and
the governor signs the bills into law, they become the new
election districts for use in the next election cycle or on
the date specified in the legislation. Because of COVID
delays, the special session will take place later than usual.
(Resources: Ballotpedia and the Office of Legislative and
Congressional Reapportionment)
Proposed Georgia Congressional Districts
Democrats' Proposed Georgia
Congressional Districts (October 21)
Puzzle Answers
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