ATLANTA – State Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome) has been appointed to the National Conference of State Legislatures Redistricting and Elections Committee by Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson (R-Savannah).

As a member of this Committee, Sen. Smith will be responsible for developing the official policy statements that form the basis of NCSL’s lobbying effort in Washington.  In his role, Sen. Smith will work with members of Congress and the White House to influence policy decisions on elections, election reform, voting, the Voting Rights Act, campaign finance, redistricting, reapportionment, the census, and initiatives and referendums.

“I am so honored by this appointment,” Sen. Smith said following notification of his appointment.  “As a first term senator, I recently went through my first election and my first year as a member of the state senate.  I am very interested in campaign finance reform as well as election reform.

“With my legal background, I believe I will be an asset to this Committee and I am looking forward to sharing ideas with my colleagues from other states.  Our new voting machines that we used for the first time during the 2002 election are state of the art.  We had few technical problems with them and our election results came in quickly and accurately,” Sen. Smith added.  “I want to see what other states are doing with campaign finance reform and redistricting so I can bring ideas and suggestions to the table during the next legislative session.”

“Senator Smith has demonstrated his leadership through his hard work as a freshman senator this year,” Sen. Johnson said.  “His knowledge of the legal system and Georgia law has been invaluable to his fellow senators.  By appointing him to the NCSL Redistricting and Elections Committee, he will gain valuable knowledge from his peers in other states so we may continue to do what is best for Georgia.”

The National Conference of State Legislatures was founded in 1975 and is recognized as the pre-eminent bipartisan organization dedicated to serving the lawmakers and staffs of the nation’s 50 states, its commonwealths and territories.  It is recognized nationally for its leadership.

The NCSL standing committees meet three times each year.  Their spring meeting was in Boston earlier this year, and their next meeting will be at the Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  The NCSL Annual Meeting brings thousands of legislators and legislative staff together for more than 150 informative sessions with nationally renowned experts.  During the Annual Meeting, committee members will vote on policy resolutions that form the basis for NCSL’s lobbying agenda in Washington, D.C. later this year.