Georgia redistricting needs to be transparent

In preparation for Georgia's upcoming redistricting, eleven legislative committee meetings were held around the state over the summer. Concerned citizens in attendance asked repeatedly for a fair, transparent redistricting process. Attendees also warned politicians against placing themselves or their party's interests over those of towns and other cohesive communities as happened in 2010.

As Georgia becomes more "purple", it is in the best interest of Republicans and Democrats alike to approach the 2021 redistricting with an honest commitment to non-partisanship. This process can not degenerate into an exercise of slicing and dicing populations into unfair state and federal districts. In the past, small cities, towns and communities have been torn apart just to ensure that an incumbent cannot lose. Specifically after 2010, LaGrange and Athens were each split into two senate and three house districts. One UGA student pointed out that they had to cross through three districts just between classes! Tifton was split from one to three districts and Waycross from two to four. Allowing legislators to artificially pick their voters instead of voters picking their representatives silences voices and skews democracy. Even worse, it gives us representatives who can ignore moderate voices and cater only to those at the extremes. Please contact your state senator and representative to let them know you expect honest, open redistricting. Cydney Wells

Athens