HR 1105: Georgia Independent Redistricting Commission; create - CA

Currently, the Georgia General Assembly draws its own state Senate and House districts, along with Georgia's U.S. House districts, after each census. This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would take that power away from lawmakers and give it to a new Georgia Independent Redistricting Commission. The seven commissioners would be chosen through a multi-step process involving the state auditor, legislative leaders, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, drawing from a random pool of registered voters who have not recently held office, lobbied, or worked for a party. The commission would have to follow specific mapmaking rules, such as keeping districts contiguous, preserving communities of interest, and avoiding the drawing of lines to help or hurt any party or incumbent (a practice called cracking or packing). It would hold at least ten public hearings and publish draft maps online. The General Assembly could not amend or veto the commission's final maps. Since this is a constitutional amendment, it must be approved by Georgia voters in a statewide referendum before taking effect.

• Creates a permanent seven-member Georgia Independent Redistricting Commission to draw congressional and state legislative district maps instead of the General Assembly.
• Sets eligibility rules barring recent candidates, officeholders, lobbyists, and party staff from serving as commissioners for the prior ten years.
• Establishes a detailed selection process involving the state auditor, legislative majority and minority leaders, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
• Bans the commission from using cracking or packing, protecting incumbents, or considering political data like voter registration or past election results when drawing maps.
• Requires at least ten public hearings and public release of draft maps and data at least seven days before adoption.
• Prohibits the General Assembly from amending or vetoing the commission's final maps and lets any registered voter challenge a map in Fulton County Superior Court.

Georgia voters, who would decide the amendment's fate in a referendum; current and former elected officials, lobbyists, and party staff, who would be barred from serving as commissioners; the General Assembly, which would lose its map-drawing power; and the state auditor and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, who would help select commissioners.

If ratified, this would fundamentally change who controls the drawing of Georgia's congressional and legislative district lines, shifting that power from elected lawmakers to an independent commission bound by specific anti-gerrymandering rules, with court challenges available to any registered voter who disputes a map.

• Section 1 revises Article III, Section II, Paragraph II to strike current language giving the General Assembly apportionment power and insert the commission's structure and rules.
• Subparagraph (c) creates a permanent seven-member commission as an independent state agency.
• Subparagraph (d) sets a ten-year lookback disqualifying recent candidates, officeholders, lobbyists, and party staff from serving.
• Subparagraph (e) lays out the selection timeline: the state auditor picks 50 random applicants by January 15, legislative leaders narrow the list, and the Chief Justice and legislative leaders appoint the seven commissioners by May 1, each serving ten-year terms.
• Subparagraph (g) lists mapmaking criteria including contiguity, minimizing distance, preserving communities of interest, and limiting county and municipal boundary splits.
• Subparagraph (h) bars cracking, packing, protecting incumbents, or using political data except as required by the federal Voting Rights Act.
• Subparagraph (j) allows any registered voter to challenge adopted maps in Fulton County Superior Court, placing the burden of proof on the commission.
• Subparagraph (k) bars the General Assembly from amending or vetoing the commission's final maps, and Section 2 requires the amendment to go before voters in a referendum.

1. 2026-02-02House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-29House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-28House Hopper (House)

• Derrick Jackson (D, HD-068)Primary sponsor
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
• Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
• Billy Mitchell (D, HD-088)

• redistricting
• gerrymandering
• constitutional amendment
• voting rights
• election rules