Georgia Senate Republicans Get an “F” on Fairness, Transparency

As the special legislative session for redistricting gets underway, Georgia Senate Republicans revealed they plan on ramming their proposed map – which received an “F” grade in a  non-partisan analysis – through the legislature before the end of the week.

After Republican Senators released their proposed map late Tuesday, on the eve of the special session, today Republicans revealed they hope to pass the map as soon as tomorrow – less than 72 hours after releasing it to the public. As of now, Republicans have indicated that the only opportunity for public comment on the map would occur today, offering extremely limited opportunity for public feedback.

“Georgians have demanded fair maps and a transparent redistricting process, and Georgia Senate Republicans are failing on both fronts,” said Scott Hogan, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Georgians deserve an open redistricting process – not one that rushes a decision that will affect Georgians for the next decade. Republicans must give voters a meaningful opportunity for feedback on their proposed map and give serious consideration to Senate Democrats’ proposal, which protects the interests of Georgia voters.”

In contrast, Georgia Senate Democrats’ proposed map, which was composed with public input and released a week before special session convened, received an “A” grade for fairness from the same non-partisan experts.

More about Georgia Senate Republicans’ map, which earned an “F” grade from non-partisan experts:

• The proposed map fails to provide fair representation to voters of color.
  • It contains only 20 districts in which minorities are a majority of the voting age population.
    • Specifically, it targets the only Asian-American woman in the Senate by reducing the minority voting age population of SD-48 by 15 percent. In doing so, it splits up communities of interest in the existing district.  
    • In contrast, Georgia Senate Democrats’ plan contains 22 districts in which minorities are a majority of residents, and 15 in which Black voters are a majority of the voting age population.
  • It contains only 14 districts in which Black voters are a majority of the voting age population.
    • Specifically, it reduces the Black voting age population of SD-17 by 10 percent – eliminating the ability of Black voters to elect a candidate of choice.
    • Instead of decreasing the number of Black voters in SD-17, it can easily be drawn as a compact majority Black district as demonstrated in Georgia Senate Democrats’ plan.
• The proposed map fails to fairly represent the partisan makeup of Georgia’s electorate.
  • This proposal fails to give voters an opportunity to elect a Senate delegation that reflects Georgians’ political preferences, with the non-partisan analysis saying it creates a “significant Republican advantage.”
  • Georgia is equally divided politically, which we saw clearly in the last election cycle, but this map contains 33 districts that likely elect Republicans and only 23 that likely elect Democrats. 
    • In contrast, Georgia Senate Democrats’ plan contains 27 districts that likely elect Republicans, 25 districts that likely elect Democrats, and 4 competitive districts, which was given an “A” grade for partisan fairness by non-partisan analysis.