Redistricting timeline updates: Georgia, North Dakota, and Oklahoma announce special sessions to tackle redistricting

By

Ethan Rice
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Here’s a summary of recent redistricting timeline updates from Arkansas, Georgia, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

Arkansas: The Arkansas General Assembly reconvened at the start of a state legislative special session to consider congressional map proposals on Sept. 29. The state’s Board of Appropriation will begin work on redistricting for state legislative districts later this fall. 

Georgia: Gov. Brian Kemp (R) called for a special session of the Georgia General Assembly to address redistricting on Sept. 23.  The special session is scheduled to convene on Nov. 3.

New Hampshire: TheSpecial Committee on Redistricting continues to hold public hearings on redistricting. The committee will attend meetings in Brentwood and Lancaster this week on Oct. 5 and 7, respectively. The hearings will continue until Oct. 14.

North Dakota: On Sept. 23, Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner (R) announced that a special legislative session focused on redistricting and COVID-19 aid spending will begin on Nov. 8. Wardner said the Legislative Redistricting Committee will have finalized its plans by the start of the session, and the session is expected to last five to eight days.  

Ohio: The Ohio legislature did not meet its Sept. 30, 2021 deadline to produce a congressional district map. Since a congressional map wasn’t completed by that date, the Ohio Redistricting Commission must draw a map by Oct. 31. If the commission does not adopt a map, the General Assembly must draw a map by Nov. 30.

Oklahoma: On Sept. 24, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) called a special session of the legislature to address redistricting. The special session will begin on Nov. 15.

Rhode Island: The special Legislative Commission on Reapportionment continues to hold public hearings on redistricting.  The commission held a meeting on Oct. 4 in Woonsocket and is scheduled to hold another in Kingston on Oct. 7. Hearings will continue until Oct. 25.

South Carolina: Senate President Harvey Peeler (R) canceled a special senate session originally scheduled to begin on Oct. 12. The Senate had planned to address COVID spending and redistricting during the special session, but the Senate redistricting committee asked for more time, saying it would not be able to draft district maps until later in the month.

West Virginia: The West Virginia Senate Redistricting Committee began the redistricting process by holding an organizational meeting in which they approved rules for drawing district maps. The House committee held its own organizational meeting on Sept. 30. Sen. Charles S. Trump (R) said he expects Gov. Jim Justice (R) to announce a special legislative session beginning the week of Oct. 11.