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Politics & Government

Citizens Urged to Get Involved in Redistricting

2010 Census Data shows that due to increases in minority populations Gwinnett County is minority-majority populated and faces fairness in redistricting decisions.

Gwinnett County residents recently gathered to hear and see  regarding the growth of White, Hispanic/Latino, Asian and Black/African American populations and how population changes will affect redistricting.

The 2010 Census showed a significant slowing in growth of the majority, white-non Hispanic, population. In combining minorities that have outgrown the majority, Gwinnett is now, statistically, a minority-majority county.    

Collected every 10 years, the Census data indicates increases by races and languages in Gwinnett County from 2000 to 2010 in the following: White from 427,883 to 429,563, Hispanic or Latino from 64,137 to 162,035, Black from 78,224 to 184,122, Asian from 42,360 to 84,763. Gwinnett added 300,000 residents over the past decade. 

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Redistricting is important to the local and national political picture. Politically, redistricting plays a crucial part in electing members of Congress, state legislatures, county commissions, city councils and school boards. It is a part of the federal Voting Rights Act.  

Gwinnett County has the largest school system in the state. Yet it does not have a minority on it s. And with the county experiencing a vast growth in minority populations, minority representation on the county commission and most city councils has yet to occur.

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“Unfortunately we are voting along racial lines. Minority-majority districts are represented exclusively by Democrats,and majority, white districts, are all represented by Republicans,” said State Sen. Curt Thompson, D-Tucker, who represents parts of Gwinnett. “The reason this (redistricting) has become such a political partisan issue is that inspite of 60 years of the civil rights movement, the two places that we still tend to voluntarily segregate are church and the voting booth.”     

By law the U.S. Census Bureau must present redistricting data one year after the census has been conducted. This data is reported in what the bureau calls Redistricting File by five tables or tabulations. Information found in these tables includes race, ethnicity, and age, including the all important voting age, of the county’s population. These tables are then used by state representatives, local community members, or whoever is participating in redistricting, to redraw district lines in the county.

Typically after every census redistricting occurs, due to shifts in populations. In anticipation of redistricting, the Census Bureau hands over its data to local representatives to look at and decide what needs to be drawn or redrawn. After local representatives have completed this process, the redrawn map is submitted to the Census Bureau to update districts, populations and boundaries.

“We don’t have an active role in redistricting,” said Gerson Vasquez of the U.S. Census Bureau. “We provide the data. The real catalysts for redistricting are the people that participate in the Census. Due to Georgia being the seventh fastest growing state in the country, with over 18 percent increase in its population from 2000, it picked up a fourteenth congressional seat, which is very important to the national big picture of government.”

Georgia has the third largest minority, non-white, population of any state. It has the largest legislative black caucus of any state in the nation. Historically, because of the Voting Rights Act, Georgia has created a large block of minority voting districts.

On Friday the Legislative and Congressional Reappointment Office of the Georgia General Assembly released the first set of redistricting maps for the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate based on 2010 census data.  

These redistricting maps are not finalized, but will serve as drafts to begin discussions during a special session of the Georgia Assembly starting Monday.

Provided that the proposed maps are approved, Gwinnett could have the state’s first majority Hispanic, Spanish-speaking, state house district.

“Often time citizens think that redistricting is something that only the legislators or government can do, but we draw district maps for citizens, communities,” said Fred McBride, redistricting coordinator with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation. “Who is better to speak for where they live and vote than the people in the community.”

McBride encouraged public participation in the redistricting process by attending the Special Session, reviewing legislative proposed redistricting maps, holding community meetings to discuss redistricting and joining with other organizations that share similar views about redistricting to plan actions that to accomplish redistricting goals. He said the ACLU will provide education, drawing services in creating maps, and free legal representation to defend community-based redistricting conflicts.

“As a lawyer I would encourage citizens to get involved on the front end to get maps drawn right from the beginning as opposed to suing to make them right on the back end,” said Thompson.

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