HR 14: Mid-decade reapportionment or redistricting of congressional and legislative districts; prohibit - CA
Last action June 20, 2026 · House Second Readers
A Georgia House resolution would ask voters to amend the state constitution to bar mid-decade redrawing of congressional and legislative district lines, allowing only narrow court-ordered fixes between census counts.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the resolution and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Currently Georgia's constitution lets the General Assembly change legislative and congressional district lines whenever it decides it is necessary after each U.S. Census, which has allowed redrawing maps between census counts. This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would lock those districts in place once the legislature draws them after a decennial census, preventing further changes until the next census, roughly every ten years. The only exception would be if a court rules that a district violates the Georgia or U.S. Constitution or federal law. In that case, the General Assembly could only fix the specific problems the court identified, not redraw maps more broadly. Because this is a constitutional amendment, it must go to Georgia voters for ratification. The resolution sets the exact ballot question voters would see, asking whether to prohibit mid-decade reapportionment while allowing limited court-ordered remedies.
What the bill does
- Amends Article III, Section II of the Georgia Constitution to require districts drawn after a census to stay unchanged until the next decennial census.
- Removes the current language letting the General Assembly change Senate and House districts whenever it deems necessary after a census.
- Extends the same lock-in rule to Georgia's congressional districts and any other state office elected by district, not just state legislative seats.
- Allows the General Assembly to redraw only the specific parts of a district plan a court finds unconstitutional or unlawful, not the whole map.
- Requires the proposed amendment to be put before Georgia voters as a ballot question for ratification or rejection.
Who it affects
Georgia voters, who would decide the amendment at the ballot box; state lawmakers, who would lose the ability to redraw district maps mid-decade; and members of Georgia's congressional delegation and General Assembly, whose district boundaries would be locked in for ten years absent a court order.
Why it matters
If ratified, this would end the practice of redrawing congressional or legislative maps outside the normal ten-year census cycle, limiting the legislature's power to reshape districts for political advantage between censuses, except when a court specifically orders a fix.
Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites Paragraph II of Article III, Section II to require apportionment of Senate, House, and congressional districts only after each decennial census.
- Section 1 states that once districts are established they must remain unaltered until the next census.
- Section 1 creates a narrow exception letting the General Assembly fix only the specific defects a court identifies, without otherwise altering the map.
- Section 2 sets the exact ballot language voters would see and directs that the amendment be published and submitted under Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution.
From the bill
“the General Assembly shall have the limited authority to remedy the defects specifically identified by such court, but otherwise such apportionment or district plan shall remain unaltered”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
- Samuel Park (D, HD-107)
- Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
- Saira Draper (D, HD-090)
- Park Cannon (D, HD-058)
- Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
Topics
- redistricting
- voting rights
- constitutional amendment
- legislative districts
- congressional maps