The first attempt

to pass a Congressional redistricting map in the Georgia Senate has been

shot down.

The matter

was sent back Friday morning to the committee that drew up the map, said

Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, who represents part of Fayette County. Republicans

have lobbied for the map to be redrawn on the basis it favors Democrats.

The map would

have split Fayette County into two U.S. Congressional districts. Northeast

Fayette would become part of the new 13th district along with parts of

Cobb, Fulton, Douglas, Clayton, Henry, Rockdale, Newton and Gwinnett counties.

The remainder of Fayette would be included in the 7th district along with

portions of Coweta, Troup and Spalding counties.

Both districts

would be open since the 13th is a new district and the current 7th district

Congressman, Bob Barr, does not live within the proposed district lines,

Seabaugh said.

Under the new

map, the third district of U.S. Congressman Mac Collins would be shifted

to the eastern Atlanta area. Collins currently represents Coweta, Fayette,

Troup and Spalding counties, among others.

Seabaugh spoke

from the Senate floor Thursday to oppose the map, arguing that it "destroyed

communities of interest."

Seabaugh's

main example was Spalding County, which was split into three different

U.S. Congressional districts although the county has a population of about

58,000. One of the splits contained just 4,000 people, not even 10 percent

of the county's population, Seabaugh noted.

The districts

should have approximately 629,000 people each, Seabaugh said.

"They

could have easily put that (area) in another district," he said.

"The question is, why did they have to rip that county apart? Small

counties struggle to have influence anyway."

The Democrats

just didn't have enough votes to pass the first version of the map, Seabaugh

said. The committee is scheduled to meet on the matter Tuesday, he added.

"They're

going to try and get the votes they need or tweak the map to get support,"

Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh added

that he doesn't think the map would have passed the limitations of the

Voting Rights Act.

The Republicans

will again be shut out of the committee process, Seabaugh added.

Seabaugh has

contended that the entire redistricting process has been done without

regard for the best interest of Georgia's citizens. He was particularly

critical of the time frame, saying citizens should have the opportunity

to review the maps and issue comments.

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