By Ethan Gardner, JMU ’20
“Gerrymandering is the most evil thing that happened to our political system. We have to get rid of the fixed system.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican, Former Governor of California, February 12, 2019
“Reducing gerrymandering will make voting fairer for all.” -George Allen, Republican, Former Governor of Virginia, February 1, 2019
“We’ve got to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around. Let a bipartisan group do it.” -Barack Obama, Democrat, 44th President of the United States, January 13, 2016
What is redistricting?
- Every ten years, the US Census is conducted to count every person living in the United States. After the Census is released, state governments redraw district lines to apportion voters into equally populous districts. Redistricting is the process by which Congressional and State Legislative maps are drawn and passed.
What is a gerrymander?
- Gerrymandering is the practice of drawing electoral district boundaries in such a way that one party gains an unfair advantage over the opposing party. With increasing access to voting data, predicting how individuals will vote has become much easier, allowing politicians to more easily gerrymander districts in their favor.
Map Drawn by Federal Court:
- In June 2018, a US District Court ruled that 11 Virginia House of Delegates districts were unconstitutional due to racially gerrymandering black voters into concentrated districts in the Hampton Roads and Richmond areas. The judges ordered the Virginia government to create a new map. It was the second time in a decade that Virginia had districts that were ruled as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.
- Leaders in the General Assembly and Governor Ralph Northam could not agree on how to redraw the lines. The judges then selected a California Professor specializing in drawing maps to design a new map.
- The map was chosen in February 2019.
- It would evenly distribute African American voters into each district.
- VPAP analysis found 8 Republican seats would become more blue and 12 Democratic seats would become more red.
- Speaker Kirk Cox’s seat would swing blue by 32 points and Del. Chris Jones, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee would swing 27 points.
- Republicans in the House of Delegates are appealing the decision to SCOTUS, with Speaker Cox arguing that “the [maps] selected by the Court target senior Republicans, myself included, without a substantive basis in the law.” SCOTUS has refused an effort to delay the implementation of the map, but may hear the case at some point in the future.
The Virginia General Assembly is currently debating two proposals to create an independent redistricting board.
House Bill to Create Redistricting Commission
- House Bill HJ615
- Sponsors: Cole (R-Spotsylvania)
- Structure:
- 12 member commission:
- 4 members appointed by Speaker of the House of Delegates
- 4 members appointed by Senate Committee on Rules
- 4 members appointed by Governor
- Evenly split between party (required)
- The process will be used to create new maps for Virginia’s Congressional seats, as well as in the state Senate and House of Delegates.
- The Congressional map must receive the vote of 8 of the 12 members of the commission to be sent to the General Assembly.
- The Virginia Senate map must receive the vote of 3 of the 4 members of the commission appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
- The Virginia House of Delegates map must receive the vote of 3 of the 4 members of the commission appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates.
- The General Assembly will vote, and if two versions of a map are rejected, then the Virginia Supreme Court will create a map.
- Criticisms:
- Lack of requirements for public hearings, protecting communities of interests, and rules on the use of partisan data.
- Not enough separation between politicians and the process of drawing their boundaries
- 12 member commission:
- Passed the House, being sent to the Senate
Senate Bill to Create Redistricting Commission
- Senate Bill SJ306
- Sponsors: Barker (D) and Saslaw (D)
- Structure:
- 16 member commission
- 8 lawmakers: 4 from each chamber and evenly split between party identification.
- 8 citizen members: chosen by a select committee of five retired judges
- Begin by establishing a process for registered voters to apply. Judges select a list of 16 candidates (4 candidates from each party and 8 who are unaffiliated with a party)
- Winnow down number to eight by party leadership in the House of Delegates and State Senate successively striking names off the list.
- Final list of 8 requires that each major party gets two affiliated members and four be unaffiliated with a political party.
- Begin by establishing a process for registered voters to apply. Judges select a list of 16 candidates (4 candidates from each party and 8 who are unaffiliated with a party)
- Each map must receive the affirmative vote of six of the eight legislative members and six of the eight citizen members.
- 16 member commission
- Once map is drawn, the GA would vote on it, but it can’t be changed by the GA or the Governor.
- If the maps are not passed by their deadlines (45 days after receipt of census data for House of Delegates and Senate; 60 days after receipt of census data for House of Representatives), they will be decided by “judicial decision”
OneVirginia2021
- OneVirginia2021 is a nonprofit group in Virginia that advocates for nonpartisan redistricting in Virginia.
- They have advocated and proposed legislation that failed earlier in the House of Delegates, but the process for choosing citizen members for the redistricting board in the Senate bill is based on their proposals.
- The organization has been doing town halls across Virginia on redistricting reform with former Republican Governor George Allen. They also hosted a telephone town hall with Arnold Schwarzenagger, the former Governor of California and a redistricting activist, in which Schwarzenagger endorsed the Senate bill and criticized the House bill for not moving the process far enough away from partisanship.
Further Reading
- HJ 615
- SJ 306
- ‘Taking redistricting into a smoke-filled room:’ Why Democrats are pushing back on reform measure – Virginia Mercury
- Federal judges choose VA redistricting map favorable to Democrats; six GOP House districts would get bluer – Washington Post
- Visualization of Federal Court Plan Changes – Virginia Public Access Project
- The Gerrymandering Project – FiveThirtyEight
- Could the timing be right for a redistricting constitutional amendment? – Virginia Mercury
- Senate of Virginia member listing
- Virginia House of Delegates Member Listings
- Find Your Legislator – Virginia Public Access Project
Discussion Questions
What are your thoughts on the two proposed bills in the Virginia General Assembly?
What impact would citizen representatives on redistricting boards have compared to a board only comprised of elected or party officials?
What impact do you think gerrymandering has on the way elected officials behave in office?
Contacting your Virginia elected officials:
- Where do your state representative stand on redistricting reform and how can you weigh in?
- Look up your representatives in the General Assembly
- Contact Information
- Let your representatives know what you think about the proposals. If you care about the proposal for citizen board members, you can ask for that language to be added to the House bill.
The Virginia General Assembly session ends next Friday, February 22nd, so be sure to reach out by then.
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