Public hearings on redistricting begin in Georgia

After every U.S. Census, Georgia’s state legislators join their colleagues across the country in changing political district lines using the latest population count.

These changes affect your collective power as voters and the quality of your political representation. Historically, the political party in power tends to use this process to solidify its control of the state and reduce competitiveness in districts where it’s already dominant.

In Georgia, as with other states, this process begins after a decade that has seen many changes since the last census. Most notably, it includes the U.S. Supreme Court’s devastating decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted several of the protections afforded to voters by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. States with histories of racial discrimination are no longer required to pre-clear changes in voting rules and redistricting with the federal government before they go into effect.

In addition, the Trump administration obstructed and sabotaged the 2020 census by doing things like underfunding the U.S. Census Bureau and attempting to suppress participation from immigrants in the U.S. by adding unnecessary and unconstitutional questions about citizenship status to the questionnaire. This coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic has created serious delays in states receiving the data they need to meet deadlines and requirements for redistricting.

Nevertheless, Georgia’s joint redistricting committees have decided to hold town halls to get “feedback” on the redistricting process. These town halls are happening without much public notice or organization. The first hearing on redistricting was held virtually on June 15, and unfortunately, it did not inspire much confidence. It was not clear that any procedures or plans are forthcoming. The events cannot meaningfully engage communities because the public does not have enough information, including census data, draft maps or information about the special legislative session and other legislative meetings on redistricting. The next hearing will be today in Dalton, Ga.

Despite repeated calls from advocates for transparency and inclusion in the redistricting process, the joint redistricting committees failed to respond. Community members – particularly Black, Indigenous and other communities of color – must be part of the process in meaningful ways to ensure fair representation in the Georgia General Assembly and in the U.S. Congress.

We’ve seen this playbook before with the passage of SB 202, the latest attack on voting rights in Georgia that greatly restricted the state’s voting process. Those committee hearings did not have transparent procedures or full access for communities to provide testimony. There was no uniform way for the public to sign up to testify in advance. The latest versions of the legislation were rarely public by the time of the hearings – and in fact, the final version of the bill was not available until days after it passed the Legislature.

For the redistricting process to work and to create fair maps and fair representation for all Georgians, the public must trust that legislators are providing them with the necessary information.

In addition to providing the information mentioned earlier, Georgians need to understand the guidelines for considering redistricting bills and have access to all legislative language, including bills, amendments and substitutes. This information should appear on the General Assembly website at least 24 hours before any language is considered or voted upon by any committee or on the House or Senate floor. Information should also be available in the languages required to reach diverse Georgians. At a minimum, the information should be in Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Mandarin/Cantonese, Hindi, Arabic and American sign language.

Without concrete ways to speak directly to communities about changes in the process, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the legislative session that saw a devastating blow to voting rights. This will only contribute to the distrust and hyper-partisanship that led to the spread of disinformation and created a policy to suppress the votes of communities of color in Georgia.

Let’s do better, Georgia. The distribution of political power for the next decade is at stake.

Kayla Kane is a data and research analyst for the SPLC Action Fund.

Jack Genberg is a senior staff attorney for the SPLC Action Fund.

Photo at top: Georgia House redistricting chair Bonnie Rich, R- Suwanee, speaks, Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at the first of a series of redistricting hearings as Senate Majority Leader John Kennedy, R-Macon, looks on at the state Capitol in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)