ATLANTA – Legislation introduced into the state Senate this week is calling for more sunshine when lawmakers draw new congressional and legislative district maps next year based on the 2020 Census.
Democrats say greater transparency in the redistricting process would help head off any potential attempts at gerrymandering by the state’s majority Republican leadership.
In Georgia, the majority party in either chamber of the legislature has the upper hand in drafting and passing district maps with redrawn borders. Republicans have enjoyed a majority in both the 180-member House and the 56-member Senate since 2005.
The maps are redrawn every 10 years to reflect new population counts shortly after each census, the latest of which is set to begin counting next month. Congressional and state legislative districts are required to be roughly equal under the Georgia Constitution.
Critics of the redistricting process have long argued it can allow the map drafters to redraw lines in ways that favor their party, either to consolidate weak districts or flip others held by the opposing party.
Senate Bill 491 would require state lawmakers to hold at least two public meetings to present the proposed new district maps and explain details of how the boundaries were drawn.
Those maps and explanatory information would also have to be published on the General Assembly’s website before redistricting committees in the state House and Senate vote on the maps.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Elena Parent, said at a news conference Friday requiring a more public airing of the maps before state lawmakers approve them would give Georgia voters a better chance at bringing pressure to bear on their elected officials if they do not like how the districts would be revised.
“It’s very important that we have a meaningful way for citizens all around the state to able to register their comments and to review the process and the proposed maps,” said Parent, D-Atlanta.
Her bill is being pushed in the House by Rep. Matthew Wilson, D-Brookhaven.
Parent said she recently talked to Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, who chairs the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, about scheduling her bill for a hearing. Lawmakers could still consider the measure next spring before the redistricting process happens in summer 2021, she said.
Parent is also sponsoring a resolution that she filed in last year’s legislative session to create an independent commission to draft the new maps, rather than lawmakers themselves. That measure, which would ask voters to approve formal changes to the redistricting process, has stalled in the Senate.