Community of Interest and Voting Rights Act
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Welcome and introductions of members! - 10 mins
Why do we write LTEs?
Report on recent letters
Focus of this Meeting to continue letters on the VRA and to begin to think about Communities of Interest - 10 mins
presentation
ask for communities to define themselves (communities of interest)
ask readers attend the public hearings being scheduled and testify
target newspapers around possible cracked districts
target newspapers around public town hall
How to write an LTE that will get published - 10 mins:
Include “FDGA”, or “learn more at http://fairdistrictsga.org ” if possible to push people to the website, include legislator’s name if local or otherwise appropriate. It will also help in monitoring for publication.
Engage friends or relatives in new areas or even in current to keep the messages out there
Other people in your community will read it; they may be inspired to write LTEs themselves
Include what the ask is of the reader if you have one
Letter-writing! 1 hour:
What are we asking for?
attend the public hearings being scheduled and testify. Use FDGA Testimony Tool-kit.
use Representative.org to define your community
come to the FDGA Town Hall on 6/21 “Gerrymandering in Georgia from 2000-2020” [link?]
What are the talking points of our letter?
Draw maps that reflect community input.
Redistricting has a very real impact on the voices of citizens in every county, city, and town.
Legislators must listen carefully to communities across the state about their desired representation, and they must account for that input when drawing maps.
Communities, in turn, must clearly express their rationale for cohesive representation.
Many groups across Georgia will be deploying another Princeton innovation, Representable.org, which enables citizens to define communities of interest and legislators to incorporate them into maps.
Legislators must listen to community. Communities have changed a lot in past 10 years.
Share letters with others to be modified for other papers or for feedback
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