Live: Political Redistricting Hearing

6:58 p.m. The meeting is adjourned.

6:56 p.m. No more speakers so closing remarks began. Officials thank everyone for coming and say the comments they heard are very helpful.

Following the 12 meetings across the state, a special legislative session begins Aug. 15 and the public can provide input in Atlanta.

6:54 p.m. And another speaker — Kenny Bryant of Carroll County is in the 11th District with his home and in the 3rd District with his Carrollton business and says that's not fair. The two are 6 miles apart. He said get Carroll County in one district.

6:53 p.m. One more — Rob Adkerson of Adairsville, vice chairman of the Bartow GOP, says keep common sense. He ask committee members to pray for the right decision.

6:51 p.m. The chairman of the Carroll County Republican party would "love" to see the maps drawn to follow county lines. "Lets try to keep the common interest of the county together," he said. "I don't want to see another Roy Barnes map."

6:50 p.m. Back to the hearing with one more speaker.

6:40 p.m. With no additional speakers, a break will continue through 6:50 p.m.

6:39 p.m. A Florida woman who wants soon to move to Georgia said increase the number of representatives.

6:38 p.m. Susan Stanton of Cobb County said Acworth is not metro Atlanta and its representation is very conservative. She added the vast majority of Acworth is conservative and "we wish to stay that way."

6:37 p.m. Bill Hudson of Cobb County said he would like changes in the 11th and 6th Districts to exclude DeKalb and Gwinnett.

6:36 p.m. The meeting starts back and there are speakers.

6:18 p.m. Another break — no other speakers signed up, but the committee will be here until 7 p.m. The meeting will start back at 6:35 p.m.

6:16 p.m. Nancy Hollinshed of Paulding County said she would like Polk, Paulding, Haralson and Bartow counties together in a district due to communities of interest.

6:15 p.m. John Wallace of Cherokee County is a "proud" member of the 6th District. He said south Cherokee has no community interest with DeKalb or Gwinnett counties. Hall, Forsyth, Cherokee and Bartow should be in the future 14th District, he said.

6:13 p.m. Trevor Southerland of Acworth (Cobb County) urges community interest. He would like to see his district reflect that he and others who drive to Atlanta have more in common with those in Atlanta.

Echoing previous statements, he would like to see the maps earlier and have a comment period.

6:12 p.m. The meeting is back in session with three more speakers.

5:50 p.m. Committee members are taking a break since they advertised they'll be here until 7 p.m. If anyone else shows up who wishes to speak, they're welcome to do so.

5:48 p.m. Apparently, no other speakers are signed up. Legislators who came in late are introducing themselves.

5:47 p.m. Dan Hanks of Rome said Floyd County has one senator and four representatives, which makes it "hard for everyone to get together and support everyone. We need to try the very best we can to keep communities together," he said.

5:46 p.m. A Cobb County woman said she's in the 11th District and within a few blocks, it's the 6th District. She would all of Cobb to be one community.

5:44 p.m. Joe Frank Harris Jr., president of the Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce, said "we love" our current representatives and senators. He added they would like to keep the county whole.

5:43 p.m. Frank Cipolla said limit the "craziness" on the maps and the process should not look like the circus came to town with a ringmaster.

5:40 p.m. The vice chairman of Government Relations for the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce asked the committee to create two House districts in Floyd County. "We need two seats anchored in Floyd County," he said.

He also asked they create a Senate district that represents 56 percent of Floyd County, which is based on requirements determined by the 2010 Census results.

5:38 p.m. Jason Winters, commissioner of Chattooga County, recommends the committee maintain the current House district. He said it offers conformity due to the district's rural nature. Winters does not want Chattooga County to be split in redistricting, but said the district could expand to Walker.

5:36 p.m. William Perry of Atlanta represents the Georgia Redistricting Alliance. He said they hope to see five things come from redistricting, including lines that bring counties into much the same districts. In addition, no districts should be drawn to benefit one party, he said.

5:34 p.m. Virginia Galloway said the process 10 years ago was "pretty disgusting." Georgia was featured in a national publication for "some of the worst redistricting maps" in the country. She said be principled and "do it the right way this time."

5:33 p.m. Paul Smith of Floyd County, who previously served in three legislative districts and never moved, said dividing counties makes local legislation difficult.

5:30 p.m. David Austin, chairman of the Paulding County Board of Commissioners, recognized Bartow County Commissioner Clarence Brown and named Paulding's representatives. A handful of Paulding residents are in attendance.

Austin echoes the comments of others — create districts consisting of Paulding County and keep districts largely and wholly in Paulding. He said that would benefit the people of Paulding.

5:28 p.m. JM Prince of Cartersville, chairman of the local Democratic party, echoed the sentiments of others — keep towns whole. Keep community interest together and not divided, he said.

Prince said it would be helpful to have advanced maps released for public comments instead of "springing them on us."

5:27 p.m. John Watkins of Cassville said create districts to benefit the people, not politicians and to maintain small community integrity.

5: 26 p.m. Joyce Shoemocker of Cobb County said she'd like District 11 to be moved.

5:23 p.m. Michael Hunackee, former chairman of the Bartow GOP, said "keep Bartow County whole." He'd like to see Bartow stay in the 11th, but the 9th is "fine, too."

Don't split the precincts and keep the cities together, he told committee members.

5:20 p.m. Paul Nally of Pine Log said he disagrees with the previous speaker. He said gerrymandering "has been with us" and "will be with us," then references the Civil War. Long story short, he'd like to be brought back into Bartow County.

5:19 p.m. He said "people don't want it and don't like it" in regard to the political infighting that accompanies redistricting.

5:17 p.m. The second speaker says make the process simple and it's not going to be that hard. He asked committee members to consider drawing vertical and horizontal lines on the map, then adjust those lines according to population and then adjust those to follow county lines. "It's just simply not right" for the counties to be split so much.

5:15 p.m. First speaker, Phil Daniel of Cobb County, said he is interested in finding out more about the process. He lives in the 13th District in Cobb County, which is divided into three districts. He'd like counties not to be divided into so many districts.

5:14 p.m. The public comments portion begins.

5:12 p.m. Other members of the House and Senate in attendance are introducing themselves.

5:07 p.m. Members of the Senate and House Reapportionment and Redistricting committees in the audience are being introduced.

5:05 p.m. Attendees are instructed to sign up if they wish to speak and told the committee will not answer questions or engage in "back and forth" with participants. They are hear to listen, Seabaugh said.

More information can be found at www.legis.ga.gov.

Comments at this hearing from each person are limited to 3 minutes.

5:03 p.m. Three committee members are on stage, including State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh of the 28th District, and others are in the audience.

5:02 p.m. The meeting begins with an explanation of why we're here and introductions of committee members.