As the Georgia General Assembly shifts its focus to local redistricting – the process of redrawing the lines of districts that determines our communities’ resources and who represents us in government for the next 10 years – Fair Count is urging all Georgians to stay involved.
Local redistricting follows the decennial census and impacts a variety of jurisdictions, including county commissions and school boards. Members of the public can influence the maps that are ultimately adopted through public testimony and community mapping.
At Fair Count’s Mapping Mondays, attendees can learn about local redistricting and get tools to ensure their community’s voice is heard. Participants are walked through producing community of interest maps to illustrate clearly to map-makers that a community is made up of people united in around faith groups, hospital service areas, school district boundaries, grocery stores, parks and more. When looking at community of interest maps, you see how a community lives and interacts with one another.
“Fair Count continues to work against gerrymandering and toward a redistricting process that’s fair, transparent and led by public input and equity,” said Fair Count CEO Rebecca DeHart. “Community of interest maps are an excellent tool that allow Georgians to participate in a process that wasn’t designed for them to be heard. It is an additional tool that can be used to hold those in power accountable.”
Members of the public and the media are invited to join Fair Count for the next Mapping Mondays event 7-8 p.m. on Jan. 24. To register, click HERE.
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About Fair Count
Founded in 2019 and anchored in Georgia, Fair Count works to build long-term power in communities that have been historically undercounted in the decennial census, underrepresented at the polls, and whose communities are often torn apart in redistricting. FairCount.org
