A controversial plan for local redistricting was expected to come to the floor of the Georgia House this morning, but in a surprise move, one of the map’s sponsors, Republican Representative Houston Gaines (R-Athens) delayed the vote. At Gaines's request, the proposal was taken off a collection of local legislation scheduled for a vote this morning, and sent back to the House Committee on Intragovernmental Coordination.
It is still unclear why Gaines asked for the map to be returned to committee, although one possibility is that legislators might make more changes to the proposal after opposition from a majority of ACC Commissioners and members of the public to the map.
Opponents say that the map splits historically Black East Athens into two districts, and that tens of thousands of ACC voters who would normally vote in commission elections this May would have to wait two more years to vote for local representation. The map also draws three sitting commissioners out of their districts, keeping them from running for re-election for two more years.
