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Health & Fitness

Redistricting: Why Women Should Care

We lose our Representative and women lose their voice at the table in the redistricting process. Speak up now!

First, I am in no way expert on redistricting, and this is not intended to be a definitive document on Georgia’s current redistricting. But I feel compelled to bring a few issues to your attention.
 
The Georgia redistricting maps were recently released. They are, not surprisingly, highly partisan. This is the way the game is played. The last redistricting maps, under Democrats, were no less partisan. Without a doubt, the redistricting process needs to change. With the current state of technology available to us today, it would be easy to create fair maps based on population and natural boundaries. However, this will be a fight for another day.
 
The real political hand-grenade, in my opinion, is the assault on women elected officials. It is simply a continuation of the war on women we have witnessed during the recent legislative sessions, where the motto seemed to be, "What was wrong with the dark ages?"

Women often serve as the firewall on legislation that negatively impacts education, health, children, families and women. They are more likely to cross the aisle and form coalitions to work towards solutions. Is this such a threat that the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee felt compelled to draw new maps to further reduce the paltry number of women in the legislature? The poster-child example is State Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield.
 
One of the untidy realities that bears scrutiny is the makeup of the Congressional Reapportionment Committee. It is a virtual "who's who" of white male legislators. ALL of the committee leadership – chairman, vice chairman, secretary - on both the House and Senate, are white male Republicans. Shocking I know. But wait, there’s more. Of the 22 member House Congressional Reapportionment Committee, only five are women. The Senate Congressional Reapportionment Committee has 15 members, but no women. That’s right, the committee is 100 percent backslapping, cigar smoking, suspender snapping, good ole boys.
 
Women make up more than 50 percent of the Georgia population. Where was our voice in this process? If you are a woman reading this – right about now - you are probably feeling like the only fireplug at the dog show.
 
There are a several critically important points to remember and understand:

1
) This process only takes place every 10 years. So you had better speak up now.

2
) Georgia still is under the guidelines of  the Voting Rights Act which requires preclearance by the Department of Justice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act> . If you feel your district is splitting communities of interest, or your ability to elect someone of your choice has been diluted, write to the Department of Justice. These letters will be reviewed along with the maps. Your voice is critically important to the process.
 
3) If the maps are unchanged, it could give the Republicans a constitutional majority. "Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

It has been said that the first casualty of war is always the truth. The same might be said of reapportionment. At the onset of this process, Rep. Roger Lane (R), chairman of the House Congressional Reapportionment Committee, promised a fair and transparent process. Fair? You be the judge. Transparent? Only if you think taping paper over the windows of the reapportionment office is transparent.

Personally, I think he should be castigated for his mendacity.

 

Link to view the new maps:

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