Redistricting Guidelines

General Principles for Drafting Plans

  1. Each local district may be drawn with a total population of 2%+/- from the ideal district size.
  2. All plans adopted by the Committee will comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended.
  3. All plans adopted by the Committee will comply with the United States and Georgia Constitutions.
  4. Districts shall be composed of contiguous geography. Districts that connect on a single point are not contiguous.
    1. Commission and School Board districts will maintain the same geography and be identified within the same district boundaries.
  5. No multi-member districts shall be drawn on any local redistricting plan.
  6. The Committee should consider:
    1. The boundaries of neighborhoods and precincts;
    2. Compactness; and
    3. Communities of interest.
    4. Connections to transportation links
  7. Efforts should be made to avoid the unnecessary pairing of incumbents.
  8. The identifying of these criteria is not intended to limit the consideration of any other principles or factors that the Committee deems appropriate.
  9. In addition, no district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring any political party, incumbent commissioner or school board member or other person or be drawn for the purpose of diluting the voting strength of any language or ethnic minority group.

General Principles for Committee Leadership

  1. The Committee shall have a Chair and Vice Chair.
  2. These positions should be selected from the members representing the Commission and School Board.
  3. These positions should be selected from all members representing the Ad-Hoc Redistricting Committee as one of the initials steps of business and the initial meeting.