Georgia Dems raise 'serious questions' about GOP redistricting plans

Georgia Democrats are crying foul over what they perceive as a Republican takeover of the redistricting process.

State GOP lawmakers on Thursday shifted responsibility for the details of redistricting from the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, which is nonpartisan, to a Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office that will be advised by a Republican lawyer.

Anne W. Lewis, a partner in the firm Strickland Brockington Lewis, will advise the legislative office, according to The Associated Press. Lewis currently serves as general counsel to the Georgia Republican Party.

Democrats from both chambers of the state legislature questioned the move.

"That they did not include Democrats in this decision raises some serious questions about transparency and accountability," state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D) told the AP.

Georgia Senate Democratic Leader Robert Brown scoffed at the notion of a nonpartisan office advised by a GOP lawyer.

"It's obviously not nonpartisan," said Brown. "I don't know what this is. I've heard rumor after rumor about redistricting. We're not a part of this process."

Georgia gained a House seat from reapportionment resulting from the 2010 Census.