New Athens-Clarke Commission Map Approved by Dep't of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice has approved a controversial Athens-Clarke County Commission map, according to a report by the Athens Banner-Herald.

The new map eliminates the two  that overlay the County, and includes 10, rather than the current 8, equally sized districts. All incumbents will have a district to run in, but many residents will be moved into new districts. With more districts, each Comissioner will have less people and, in theory, will be better able to shake the proverbial hand of everyone in their district.

The commissioners have held various public meetings during the summer of 2011 to try and develop a district map that would best represent the citizens of Athens, with special attention paid to minority districts. In June 2011, Mayor Nancy Denson appointed a Reapportionment Committee. The committee determined which election districts needed to be reapportioned, held public meetings on the reapportionment process and potential reapportionment plans, and recommended a plan that meets the requirements of law to the Mayor and Commission.

The commissioners, four former mayors and the Boulevard Neighborhood Association all wrote letters to the Justice Department in an attempt to promote the citizen-endorsed map and call attention to the fact that the submitted map was not sensitive to the particular needs of the Athens-Clarke community.

State Rep. Doug McKillip, and State Senators Bill Cowsert and Frank Ginn, chose to ignore the citizen-endorsed map and instead drew their own maps without seeking any public input.

State Rep. Doug McKillip, R-Athens, blocked the Commission-drawn map because he said Superdistricts violate the Voting Rights Act. State Senators Bill Cowsert and Frank Ginn said the locally produced map could not pass the House, and were afraid that because the 2010 Census showed that districts’ populations were no longer equal, they could face a lawsuit if districts were not re-drawn. 

Commissioners had hoped the Justice Department would reject the new map under Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which requires the Justice Department to preclear changes to election laws and district lines before they take effect in states, cities and counties with histories of racial discrimination.

Federal lawyers cleared the new map on Thursday, according to a letter County Attorney Bill Berryman received Monday. Candidate qualifying, Wednesday through Friday, and Commission elections on July 3, will proceed under the new map.