South Carolina and Georgia redistricting committees are convening locally in separate meetings this week to hear what area residents have in mind for the voting district reapportionment that always follows the national census held every 10 years.
Georgia residents can share their opinions on redistricting when members of the House and Senate Reapportionment Committees meet in Augusta on Wednesday, Aug. 11.
Committee members will hold a joint town hall meeting from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Savannah Rapids Pavilion, 3300 Evans to Locks Rd., Martinez.
MORE: Augusta Redistricting Meeting Moved Up to Aug 11.
Last week, the Rev. James Williams of Helping Our People to Excel called on members of his community to attend the meeting.
“This is the census report that’s going to affect our community in terms of what we want our community to look like,” he said. “Your community can and will change based on the census. We don’t know what the census is because we have not seen the numbers. We won’t know the numbers until they are made public, and that won’t be until after this meeting Wednesday.”
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Rev. Melvin Ivey of the NAACP said he has two concerns he wants the committees to hear.
“One is that they make every effort to keep communities whole. They don’t split communities,” he said. “The other thing is that there is fairness in the process. There’s transparency. I understand that there’s a political part of it, but I really believe they need to have a neutral person, or neutral group of people to actually draw the lines.”
People who want to speak to the committees, led by Rep. Bonnie Rich (R-Suwanee) and Sen. John F. Kennedy (R-Macon), can sign up starting at 4:30 p.m. outside the meeting location. Speakers are asked to keep their comments to between two and five minutes.
Citizens can also submit written comments here.
The Augusta hearing will be live-streamed here, and videos of the previous 10 meetings are available there, as well.
The Augusta meeting will be the last of the 11 sessions the committees held around the state.
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In South Carolina, the seven members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Redistricting Subcommittee will have a public hearing at Aiken Technical College at 2276 Jefferson Davis Hwy., in Graniteville on Thursday, Aug. 12. It will be in the Amphitheater, Room 701, in the 700 building.
The subcommittee members, four Republicans and three Democrats led by Chairman Luke Rankin (R-Horry), are asking for input about Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Edgefield, Hampton, Lexington, McCormick, Orangeburg and Saluda counties. Interested residents can comment in-person, virtually or submit written testimony.
MORE: The Georgia Redistricting Road Show Stops in Columbus
There will be a sign-up sheet available at the meeting at Aiken Tech. Sign up to testify via Zoom by visiting this website. Online requests should be made by 4 p.m. Aug. 12.
Participate virtually or prefer to submit your comments in writing you can email to Redisticting@scsenate.gov or send comments by mail to S.C. Senate Judiciary Committee, Redistricting Subcommittee, P.O. Box 142, Columbia, S.C. 29202.
The hearing will be live-streamed here.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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