The principle of “one person, one vote” doesn’t fully apply in Georgia. As Georgia residents witness the disparity between the ideal of equal voting rights and the actual disillusionment with the electoral process. Georgia’s state legislature has turned redistricting into a partisan tool, manipulating congressional boundaries to influence election outcomes — a practice known as gerrymandering. Ideally, redistricting should serve to allocate populations fairly across geographic districts, not become a political maneuver.
Although the state is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, racial gerrymandering has skewed representation. Currently, only one out of 14 congressional districts is competitive, with the remaining 13 largely dominated by partisan interests. Congressional boundaries are drawn to secure a 9-5 Republican advantage, making it difficult for Georgians to voice their preferences on elected officials. Despite federal election results that lean Democratic, such as President Biden’s 2020 victory — the first Democratic presidential win in Georgia since 1992 — and the election of two Democratic senators, gerrymandering has preserved Republican supermajorities in statewide representation. In response to growing diversity in Atlanta suburbs, Republicans have increasingly relied on gerrymandering to maintain power.
