Fairfax County board appoints committee charged with redrawing supervisory districts

The Mason Government Center. The Mason District boundary could change as a result of the redistricting process.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on June 22 appointed a redistricting committee to begin the process of recommending new boundaries for the BoS and school board districts.

As required by state law, the county must consider redrawing its political boundaries following the U.S. Census conducted every 10 years. This is done to ensure proportional representation as the population changes over time. 

The Virginia Constitution requires election districts for local governing bodies to “give, as nearly as is practicable, representation in proportion to the population of the district.”

The 20-member redistricting committee includes a resident from each existing county district, three at-large members, and representatives of certain groups:

• Paul Berry, chairman – at-large
• Lisa Sales – at-large
• Bill Bouie – at-large
• Prashanth Rajan – Braddock District
• Jimmy Bierman – Dranesville District
• Richard Chew – Hunter Mill District
• Bryon Garner, Lee District
• Alis Wang, Mason District
• Gerry Hyland – Mount Vernon District
• Linda Smyth – Providence District
• Paul Liberty – Springfield District
• Sam Walker – Sully District
• Tim Thompson – Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations
• Anne Kanter – League of Women Voters
• Karen Campblin – African-American community
• Maya Castillo – Hispanic community
• Silvia Patton – Asian/Pacific Islander community
• Saif Rahman – Arab-American community
• Scott Price – Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce
• George Becerra – Northern Virginia Labor Federation

The work of the committee will be guided by a set of policies adopted by the board, including the following:  

• The Board of Supervisors will consider redistricting plans that maintain nine election districts, as well as any other plans that propose a lawful number of election districts.
• The board will not consider redistricting plans that would result in a maximum population deviation of more than 10 percent between the most and least-populated districts.
• The board will not consider redistricting plans that result in the denial or abridgment of the rights of any racial or language-minority group to participate in the political process.
• Existing geographical and political boundaries will be considered, including incorporated town boundaries.
• The board will consider “established communities of interest,” which is defined as a neighborhood or geographically defined group of people living in an area who share similar social, cultural, and economic interests. 
• The board will consider existing districts and incumbent representation on local public bodies that may be affected by reapportionment.
• Redistricting plans that are based on existing voting precinct boundaries will be encouraged.
• Members of the public will be encouraged to submit redistricting plans and amendments to such plans. 
• In case of conflict among these criteria, priority will be given to population equality among districts and compliance with federal and state constitutional and statutory requirements, including the federal Voting Rights Act.

According to the 2020 Fairfax County demographic report, Mason District has the smallest geographic area (22.2 square miles and the lowest population (116,549) of the nine districts. The Mount Vernon District is the largest, at 73.82 square miles, and Providence is the most populous, with 146,200 people.

The county expects to receive Census data in mid-August. According to the board’s timeline, the redistricting committee will then draw new proposed electoral boundaries during the period Aug. 30-Sept. 7. 

“Redistricting must be done fairly and in a way that ensures transparency and fair representation of the diversity of Fairfax County,” said BoS Chair Jeffrey McKay. “This is a community-led process and I am confident the committee will develop fair and equal districts and everyone will have the same access to representation.”