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Special Session 11/3-11/21. All 3 maps passed to Governor for signing. (State Senate, State House, U.S. Representatives/Congress). This project is to write letters to the editor to be distributed to papers across Georgia. Letters should have a maximum of 250 words.
GA’s redistricting process is fundamentally flawed. It simply does not include partisan balance or competitiveness in the criteria. It’s more concerned about county and precinct splits. A flawed process produces flawed maps. Partisan gerrymandering may be perfectly legal, but it’s also perfectly wrong.
ask:
The “ask” in your letter could be:
Let your Republican legislator know that we see them protecting their seats, not protecting their people’s representation.
Let your Democratic legislator know that we expect them to commit to a future redistricting process that is transparent and values districts that reflects Georgia citizens. Georgia is a swing state and should have competitive districts. Georgia is racially diverse.
talking points:
Choose one of the 2 letters below to write. The talking points may help you form your letter
letter #1: A faulty process yields faulty results
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quotes on the value of democratic representation:
The following quotes are for you to copy and use.
We want maps that respond to the needs of citizens over political parties.
People over Power.
Competitive districts are good for democracy. Candidates who win in competitive races are responsive to electorate.
History has it’s eyes on Georgia
Our beauty is in our diversity. Diversity is connected to Georgia’s economic growth. Why are we suppressing it?
From Senator Jones Senate floor speech 11/19 speaking about the committee process: Race is a defining element of America. We have to deal with it. It's not us against them. It's the constitution of the United States. It helps all of us. If we truly believed it we would have gone through the process [of having an intelligent conversation about compliance with the Voting Rights Act]. We took the easy way out and failed to tackle the most pressing problem in our nation. Next time we can hope for the courage to do this correctly.
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