SR58: SR58 Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment; independent nonpartisan commission instead of the General Assembly; provide

Right now the Georgia General Assembly draws the state's congressional, state Senate, and state House district lines after each U.S. Census, a process called reapportionment. This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would take that job away from lawmakers and give it to a new 14 member Citizens' Redistricting Commission made up of five members from each of the two largest political parties and four members with no party affiliation. The amendment lays out strict rules for how the commission must draw districts (following federal voting rights law, keeping districts contiguous, not favoring parties or incumbents, and not using past election or party data), how commissioners are selected through an application and screening process run by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and how the public can review and comment on maps through an online portal and public hearings. Disputes over a final map go to the Supreme Court of Georgia. If approved by two-thirds of the General Assembly and then by Georgia voters in a statewide referendum, the amendment would become part of the state constitution.

• Creates a 14 member Citizens' Redistricting Commission to draw Georgia's congressional and state legislative district maps instead of the General Assembly.
• Sets detailed eligibility rules for commissioners, barring recent officeholders, lobbyists, party officials, legislative staff, and large political donors from serving.
• Establishes a public application, screening, and random-draw process run by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a review panel of retired judges to select commission members.
• Bans the use of incumbents' addresses, party affiliation data, past election results, or other demographic data (besides population counts) when drawing districts.
• Requires an online redistricting portal, public hearings in each congressional district, and published explanations of how maps are drawn before a final plan is certified.
• Gives the Supreme Court of Georgia original jurisdiction to review challenges to a certified reapportionment plan and to order a new map if one is found invalid.

Georgia voters, who would decide the amendment at the ballot box and could later apply to serve on the commission; the General Assembly, which would lose its current redistricting authority; the Chief Justice and Supreme Court of Georgia, given new administrative and judicial duties; and candidates for federal, state, and local office, whose district lines would be drawn under new rules.

If ratified, decisions about the shape of Georgia's congressional and legislative districts, which affect which voters elect which candidates, would shift from elected legislators to an independent commission of ordinary citizens, with new public disclosure requirements and court oversight replacing the current legislative process.

• Section 1 adds a new Article II, Section IV to the constitution creating the Citizens' Redistricting Commission and setting mapping standards, including zero population deviation for congressional districts and near-zero deviation for legislative districts.
• Paragraph I(c) details commission composition (five members each from the top two parties, four unaffiliated) and a multi-step selection process involving applications, a judicial review panel, legislative leader strikes, and random drawing.
• Paragraph I(d) requires an internet based redistricting portal, published draft maps, at least one public hearing per congressional district, and disclosure of the software or methods used to draw maps.
• Paragraph I(e) lets any citizen petition the Supreme Court of Georgia within 15 days of a plan's certification to challenge its validity, with the Court able to order a revised or court-drawn map.
• Section 2 revises Article III, Section II, Paragraph II, restating that the General Assembly apportions Senate and House districts after each decennial census.
• Section 3 sets the exact ballot language voters would see, asking whether to create the independent citizens' redistricting commission.

1. 2025-01-29Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-01-28Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)

• redistricting
• voting rights
• constitutional amendment
• election rules
• government reform