Even as gerrymandered maps for Congress, the State House and State Senate are facing five lawsuits in federal court, Georgia’s General Assembly seems to be up to some more redistricting shenanigans, this time involving county maps.
As part of the every-decade redistricting, almost all of Georgia’s 159 counties need to update districts for county commissions and school boards in preparation for the 2022 elections, and for 2023 city municipal elections.
In the past, local entities (counties, school boards, and cities) simply presented their maps to their General Assembly’s local delegation, who typically sent them, without debate, to a floor vote on a “local consent calendar”. The General Assembly historically deferred to the local delegation on all local legislation.
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Boy, have things changed. This legislative session has seen unprecedented interference with local redistricting.
The Athens-Clarke County Commission passed a new local map with a 6-3 vote. However, members of the county’s state delegation asserted that the commission “failed to reach a consensus”, somehow ignoring the local 2-to-1 majority vote and instead took it upon themselves to develop a map that drew 3 existing commissioners out of their districts and forbade them from running again until 2024.
In Gwinnett County, the county commission and school board maps were drawn utilizing extensive feedback through five open house-style meetings and several public hearings. Nonetheless, the General Assembly, in an unprecedented legislative maneuver, presented a substitute map with no resemblance to that designed by the local community, approved by the county commission and presented by the majority of the local delegation. This maneuver breaks written rules in the General Assembly and gives the majority party the power to control the redistricting bills’ fate. Redistricting bills for Augusta-Richmond County and Cobb County are headed down the same path.
These counties all have one thing in common: voters have elected progressive majorities in recent years, flipping partisan control.
Other counties are not immune. In DeKalb County, a member of the legislative delegation is asserting the authority to change maps presented by the county commission, going so far as to restructure the commission’s makeup.
What we’re seeing is members of the General Assembly usurping local power and established procedure to determine the makeup of county commissions and school boards. It’s a power grab, pure and simple. It smacks of a last-ditch effort to hold onto power even as demographics and voter preferences are rapidly changing, reminiscent of the last big swing in the early 2000′s when the parties’ roles were reversed.
Fair Districts GA, Georgia’s only nonprofit, nonpartisan redistricting watchdog group, calls on the General Assembly and all local entities to adhere to these simple principles to ensure fair redistricting.
First, redistricting plans should be drawn at the local level. Ideally, these plans should be drawn or checked by entities independent of the commissions themselves to avoid self-dealing. Athens-Clarke tasked its local election board to draft the maps. Maps should be checked for compliance with the Voting Rights Act; even local commission maps are subject to federal oversight. A law passed in 2019 on a bipartisan basis added a requirement for maps to be reviewed by staff in the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office (LCRO) for compliance with the law. This requirement provides a useful resource for local map-drawers. And for boards and commissions that hold partisan elections, maps should reflect the natural partisan makeup of the population.
Second, citizen input should be reflected in redistricting. Citizens should have ample opportunity to address their concerns in public forums. They must be allowed to comment on proposed maps prior to commission votes. Most importantly, entities drawing the maps should demonstrate that they are responding to citizen input as maps are developed.
Third, the local delegation representing the county or city in the General Assembly should respect the maps that are drawn. Although legally the General Assembly has the final say on local redistricting, this should not be treated as license to usurp the power of citizens to determine the makeup of local government.
Finally, the General Assembly as a whole must follow its own rules and allow these bills to pass, deferring to the local delegation’s judgment. There is no principled reason for representatives from one part of the state to overrule those in another. Apparently, there are unprincipled reasons. But if you only believe in democracy when your side wins, you don’t believe in democracy.
Ken Lawler is chair of Fair Districts GA.
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