The 2021 Georgia State Senate Redistricting Process

Article III of the Georgia State Constitution vests the power of apportionment in the Georgia General Assembly.¹ In 2020, the United States administered its Decennial Census. Georgia received the results from the 2020 census on August 12, 2021.² The census revealed that over the last decade, the population of Georgia grew by 1,024,255 people—most of this population growth occurred in the Atlanta suburbs, while some counties in rural Georgia actually declined in population.³ In response to these changes in population distribution and totals, the Georgia General Assembly was required to reapportion the Georgia State Senate to ensure districts are roughly equal in population.⁴

The Joint House and Senate Reapportionment Committee first met on June 15, 2021, and held eleven meetings before separating into separate committees. On August 30, 2021, the Senate Committee on Reapportionment held its first meeting and approved its guidelines for the 2021 redistricting cycle.⁵ The guidelines were split into three sections: (I) Hearings and Meetings, (II) Public Access to Redistricting Data and Materials, and (III) Redistricting Plans.⁶ 

Per Section I, the committee had to hold time for public comment, announce its meetings in advance, and make the record of those meetings available to the public.⁷ Per Section II, the committee was required to release all data and materials that came before it as public record.⁸

Per Section III, the committee was to follow eight principles when drafting the new Georgia State Senate map: its districts must (1) be roughly equal in population, (2) in compliance with § 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, (3) in compliance with the United States and Georgia Constitutions, (4) contiguous in geography, (5) have a single member, (6) consider political subdivisions, compactness, and communities of interest, (7) minimize the pairing of incumbents, and (8) follow any other criteria that the committee may find appropriate to consider.⁹ Further, per Section III, the committee must release data regarding proposed maps to the public.¹⁰ Although these guidelines were designed to allow the public to participate in the redistricting process, in practice, their input was not substantively considered.¹¹

On September 23, 2021, Governor Brian Kemp called for a special legislative session to begin on November 3, 2021.¹² On October 27, 2021, the Georgia Senate Democratic Caucus released its proposed map for the Georgia State Senate.¹³ On November 2, 2021–just one day before the beginning of the special session—the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus released its proposed map for the Georgia State Senate.¹⁴ On November 3, 2021, the special session began. Then, on November 4, 2021, the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus released a revised version of its map—which is the current map. The Republican-drawn map was assigned SB 1EX, and the Democrat-drawn map was assigned SB 4EX. 

The Senate Committee on Reapportionment held its first public hearing on SB 1EX on November 5, 2021. On November 8, 2021–just three days later—SB 1EX passed out of the committee; the committee never considered SB 4EX. On November 9, 2021, SB 1EX passed out of the state Senate. In the state House, it passed out of committee on November 10, 2021, and the chamber as a whole on November 15, 2021. It was signed into law as Act 7EX by Governor Brian Kemp on December 30, 2021.¹⁵ Throughout each step of the process, all votes were purely down party lines.¹⁶ Further, the map was drawn and adopted under a Republican trifecta, meaning control of both chambers and the governorship.¹⁷

^References:

1. Ga. Const. Art. III, § 2, Para. II

2. “2020 Census Results,” Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, accessed October 22, 2023, https://opb.georgia.gov/census-data/2020-census-results#:~:text=The%20Decennial%20Census%20occurs%20every,files%20on%20August%2012%2C%202021.

3. American Counts Staff, "Georgia: 2020 Census" U.S. Census Bureau, August 25, 2021, https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/georgia-population-change-between-census-decade.html

4. Ga. Const. Art. III, § 2, Para. II

5. Georgia General Assembly, 2021-2022 Senate Reapportionment Committee Guidelines, August 30, 2021, https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/reapportionment-document-library/2021-s

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. David Armstrong, Sherry Liang, and Stephen Fowler, “How Georgia’s Redistricting Process Falls Short on Transparency,” Georgia Public Broadcasting, July 29, 2021  https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/07/29/how-georgias-redistricting-process-falls-short-on-transparency

12. Office of the Governor, A Proclamation Convening the General Assembly of Georgia in Special Session, September 23, 2021, https://gov.georgia.gov/document/document/convening-general-assembly-georgia-special-session-92321pdf/download

13. “Georgia Senate Democratic Caucus Releases Proposed Legislative Map,” Georgia Democrats, October 27, 2021, https://www.georgiademocrat.org/georgia-senate-democratic-caucus-releases-proposed-legislative-map/

14.  “‘Georgia Senate Redistricting Act of 2021’; Enact.” Georgia General Assembly - legis.ga.gov. Accessed October 20, 2023. https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/60894. 

15. Ibid.

16. Lowry, Donna. “Both Georgia Legislative Maps Await Kemp’s Signature. Final Congressional Map Is Expected Soon, Too.” Georgia Public Broadcasting, November 15, 2021. https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/11/15/both-georgia-legislative-maps-await-kemps-signature-final-congressional-map.

17. Ibid.