With Record 2020 Turnout, Youth Activists Turn Their Energy To 2021 Redistricting

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/13/ [login to see] /with-record-2020-turnout-youth-activists-turn-their-energy-to-2021-redistricting
Across the country, the once-a-decade mapmaking process known as redistricting is about to get underway. In Georgia, when state lawmakers held their first virtual town hall seeking public feedback on the process, several commenters stood out amidst the sea of Zoom squares. High school and college students - who were in elementary and middle school the last time voting district lines were drawn - took turns explaining how the mapmaking process will affect future generations, and emphasizing that their voices should be heard.

"There are a quarter of a million [Asian American and Pacific Islander] voters in Georgia, yet they only make up 2% of the representation in the General Assembly," said Bedansh Pandey, a Northview High School student who is part of suburban Atlanta's growing Asian-American population. He told lawmakers that 2020 was the first time his district was represented by someone who looked like him.

"That's why I ask that when drawing the districts of our state that will remain in place for the next decade, the diversity of our community is representative," Pandey said.