ATLANTA — On Day 2 of the special session for redistricting, the Senate Committee on Reappointment and Redistricting Committee approved its Republican-drawn map despite opposition from Democrats and a majority of speakers during the public hearings.

Critics of the proposal said although the plan adds two majority Black districts as ordered by the court, it takes away Democratic districts, which are typically supported by Black voters.

Lawmakers were ordered to add two additional majority-Black Senate districts in south-metro Atlanta, an area that saw large growth in the Black population from 2010 to 2020, to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

The Senate proposal creates Districts 17 and 28 as new majority Black districts. District 17 is in the south-metro Atlanta area, which includes southeast Clayton and southwest Henry counties. District 28 includes only a sliver of south-metro Atlanta (south Fulton) and stretches up to Cobb and Douglas counties.

“(District 28) connects a number of suburbs around metro Atlanta that are all experiencing growth and our diverse communities,” said Sen. Shelly Echols, R-Gainesville, chair of the Senate Committee on Reappointment and Redistricting Committee. “This configuration also limited the number of adjoining districts that had to be touched.”

Echols said redrawing those districts caused lines of neighboring districts to shift, many of them shifting north.

“You can think of that as a central ripple effect of moving districts,” she said.

The majority of speakers during the Nov. 29 meeting accused Republicans of partisan gerrymandering, or unnecessarily shifting districts help maintain its 33-23 advantage over Democrats.

The court order noted that the two majority-Black districts should be in the areas of 10 current Senate districts, half of them currently represented by Republicans. The proposed Republican plan, however, changes 15 districts.

“The vast majority of Black voters who are newly placed in new Black majority districts are from outside the 10-district area that the court identified in its order,” said Rahul Garabadu, voting rights staff attorney at the ACLU of Georgia, one of several groups on the lawsuit that challenged the 2021 district maps. “Furthermore, there are specific districts within the 10-district area that the court found unlawful, like senate District 16 (held by Tyrone Republican Marty Harbin) that remain virtually unchanged and leave some of our clients still in a district where they cannot elect candidates of choice.”

Ken Lawler, co-chair Fair Districts GA, said while the proposal does add two majority Black districts, it unnecessarily shifts and uproots two Democratic districts.

“You says it’s a result of a ripple effect. We believe that ripple effect is in excess, and as a result, you have flipped two districts back to the Republican column after making those changes,” Lawler said. “We think that’s inappropriate. This exercise should not be about maintaining any partisan balance. The exercise should be implementing the Black majority districts as requested and leave the rest of the map alone.”

According to opponents, the maps unnecessarily shifts District 6 — held by Democrat Jason Esteves of Atlanta — and District 42 — held by Democrat Sen. Elena Parent into majority Black areas. The districts are currently in majority white Democrat areas.

“While I can draw many conclusions about why my district would be a target for my Republican colleagues, my main concern is that Georgians are not being served better with the Republican proposed maps,” Parent said.

University of Georgia student Zeena Mohamed told the redistricting committee she felt empowered as a Black voter when she voted for the first time in 2020, but now feels discouraged.

“I feel very discouraged about the actual power of my vote,” she said. “Over the last few years I’ve seen unfair maps dilute the strength of Black youth voters like myself … I’m still seeing that we’re continuing to make this process as difficult and accessible as possible.”

Democrat leaders presented a proposal during the committee Nov. 30; However, the proposal was voted down along party lines in favor of the Republican proposal.

Committee member Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said he endorsed the Republican plan because it addresses the concerns of racial discrimination without changing any partisan advantage.

“The issue here was, can African American voters elect the candidate of their choice? and because of our racially-polarized voting that leaks into racial majorities and minorities in different districts,” he said. What I hope for as a Republican is the day that as a Republican Party, we can persuade African American voters that we are their candidate of choice, regardless of our race.”

The proposal now goes to the Georgia lawmakers for approval.

The Georgia legislature kicked off its special session Nov. 29 to redraw new district lines for state House, Senate and Congress.

Judge Steve Jones, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, ordered the state’s district maps be redrawn by Dec. 8 for court approval.

The State has filed an appeal of Jones’s ruling, arguing that the maps approved by lawmakers in 2021 comply with the VRA and should continue to be used; However, if the State’s appeal is unsuccessful, the map approved by Jones will be used for elections in 2024 and until the next redistricting cycle.

Proposed congressional districts had not yet be released as of the first day of the special session. The House Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee heard public comments on its proposed map concurrent with the Senate committee’s Nov. 29 hearing.

House district proposal

Republicans currently have a 102-78 majority over Democrats in the state House of Representatives.

The court ordered lawmakers to add five majority-Black House districts: two in south-metro Atlanta, one in west metro-Atlanta and two in and around Macon-Bibb County.

Fair Fight GA’s assessment of the Republican-drafted proposal notes that while the proposal appears to meet the court mandates, it contains unnecessary partisan changes to districts.

The proposal pairs Smyrna Democratic state Reps. Teri Anulewicz and Doug Stoner into the proposed District 42 in Cobb County. Lawrenceville Reps. Greg Kennard and Sam Park, both Democrats, are paired into the same Gwinnett County district. Democrat state Reps. Saira Draper and Becky Evans, both of Atlanta, were drawn into the same DeKalb County area district in the proposed map.

Under the proposal, the new District 135 pairs Republican Representatives Beth Camp and David Knight as incumbents in the district. The area includes Lamar, Pike and Spalding counties.

“While we do not agree with the (court) ruling and an appeal to a high court has been filed, the Georgia General Assembly must take action to comply with the deadline to complete the maps or the maps will be drawn by the court,” the two representatives said in a joint statement.

Proposed maps can be found at https://www.legis.ga.gov/joint-office/reapportionment. Public comments can be submitted online at https://www.legis.ga.gov/joint-office/reapportionment/public-comments.