Georgia House gives final approval to Senate redistricting map

In a vote that fell largely along party lines, members of the Georgia House of Representatives voted Monday to approve a map redividing the state's 56 Senate districts.

"This bill is the culmination of a very similar process that we went through here in the House," explained state Rep. Bonnie Rich, R-Suwanee, who serves as chair of the House Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee.

Once each decade state lawmakers must redraw state House, Senate and Congressional lines to reflect the changes in Georgia's population as recorded by the U.S. Census.

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"It is our responsibility to do right by the citizens of Georgia. This map does not do right by the people of Georgia," said state Rep. Bee Nguyen, D-Atlanta.  

Rep. Nguyen said the map did not add any majority-minority districts to the Senate.

"Over the last 10 years, Georgia's population grew by one million people and that growth is exclusively comprised of people of color," said Rep. Nguyen. "This map fails to reflect that growth."  

Democrats also decried the redistricting process, saying that Georgians did not have enough time to review the maps and provide feedback to lawmakers.

"This map, this rushed process, is not what the people of Georgia are asking for and continuing to ask for, nor is it what the law demands," said state Rep. Debra Bazemore, D-South Fulton.  

Rep. Rich, however, pushed back. She pointed to the 11 town hall meetings hosted by the House and Senate redistricting committees across the state over the summer.  

"Yes, Georgians have requested transparency and yes, we have given them transparency," Rep. Rich explained.

The bill now heads to Governor Brian Kemp's desk for his signature.  

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