For the first time, the public got a district-by-district explanation of the proposed maps for Georgia's 56 Senate districts along with assurances of a fair and legal process.

"We're going to follow the Voting Rights Act," Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) said. "The maps will not be racially discriminatory according to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the court's decisions interpreting that."

Thursday marked Day 2 of the special session of the Georgia General Assembly to fulfill the constitutionally mandated process of redrawing congressional and state legislative district boundaries every 10 years following the U.S. Census. 

The Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee leads the effort and began working once the delayed 2020 census figures came out in September.

"In the normal six to eight months that most committees in Georgia have to work on the redistricting process, we've had about six to eight weeks," said Sen. John Kennedy (R-Macon), Majority Caucus Chair and chairman of the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee.

Kennedy presented the draft Senate district maps created by the Republican majority to a packed audience filled with representatives from labor groups to civil rights and voting organizations. 

"We want to make sure there is transparency, and there has not been transparency when it comes to these maps," Jewel Howard, senior organizer at 9to5, told the committee at an afternoon hearing.

On Friday, Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) will present the draft Senate district maps created by Democrats.

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