Constitutional amendment on the ballot would create a commission on redistricting

With all the attention on the presidential election, voters are encouraged not to neglect the other issues on the Nov. 3 ballot, including a constitutional amendment to create a Virginia Redistricting Commission. 

The proposed amendment would establish a bipartisan commission to draw the election districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, the state Senate, and the House of Delegates and then submit the maps to the General Assembly for approval. 

While the proponents of the constitutional amendment say it would end gerrymandering and redraw the maps in a more fair manner, there is concern that the process would not be as bipartisan as anticipated.

Under the current Virginia Constitution, the General Assembly and the governor are responsible for drawing new election districts. These districts are required to be compact and contiguous and to have populations that are equal to one another.

A bipartisan commission

As described by the League of Women Voters of Virginia, the proposed bipartisan redistricting commission would include 16 people. Half would be members of the General Assembly and half would be citizens of the commonwealth.

The eight legislative commissioners would be appointed by the political party leaders in the state Senate and the House of Delegates, with an equal number from each house and from each major political party. 

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The eight citizen commissioners would be selected by a committee of five retired circuit court judges. Four of the retired judges would be selected by party leaders in the Senate and the House from a list compiled by the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. These four judges would pick the fifth judge from the same list. 

This selection committee would choose citizen commissioners from lists created by party leaders in the Senate and the House. Each party leader in each house would give the selection committee a list of at least 16 candidates, and the committee would select two from each list for a total of eight citizen commissioners.

For a plan to be submitted for the General Assembly’s approval, at least six of the eight citizen commissioners and at least six of the eight legislative commissioners must agree to it.

Virginia Supreme Court has the final say

If the commissioners are unable to agree on proposals for maps by a certain date, or if the General Assembly does not approve the submitted maps by a certain date, the commission is allotted additional time to draw new districts. If the new maps are not approved, the Supreme Court of Virginia would be responsible for drawing these election districts.

Additionally, for plans for General Assembly districts to be submitted, at least three of the four senators on the commission have to agree to the Senate districts plan, and at least three of the four delegates on the commission have to agree to the House of Delegates districts plan.

The General Assembly cannot make any changes to these plans, and the governor cannot veto any plan approved by the General Assembly.

The amendment also adds a requirement that districts provide, where practicable, opportunities for racial and ethnic communities to elect candidates of their choice.

The constitutional amendment is supported by these organizations: OneVirginia2021.org, the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause, AARP Virginia,  the Brennan Center for Justice, the Campaign Legal Center, FairVote, Princeton Gerrymandering Project, and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.

Democrats oppose the amendment

The Fairfax County Republican Committee also endorses the constitutional amendment, but the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) and Fair Districts oppose it. 

While the FCDC has worked for years to end gerrymandering, it contends that the constitutional amendment on the ballot would not actually prevent gerrymandering and would reject nonpartisan or independent approaches to redistricting. 

They argue the amendment would give two or three Republican legislators on the commission the right to veto the commission’s redistricting maps.

If only two commissioners voice objections, the maps become null and void. Responsibility then falls on the Virginia Supreme Court to redraw district lines without reference to any prior work by the commission. 

As a result, the amendment would give the Virginia Supreme Court – where six of the seven justices have been appointed by Republican lawmakers – the power to redraw maps that favor Republicans. 

This is how the question will appear on the ballot: 

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to establish a redistricting commission, consisting of eight members of the General Assembly and eight citizens of the Commonwealth, that is responsible for drawing the congressional and state legislative districts that will be subsequently voted on, but not changed by, the General Assembly and enacted without the Governor’s involvement and to give the responsibility of drawing districts to the Supreme Court of Virginia if the redistricting commission fails to draw districts or the General Assembly fails to enact districts by certain deadlines?”

A “yes” vote will make a bipartisan commission responsible for the initial drawing of election districts.

A “no” vote will leave the sole responsibility for drawing the districts with the General Assembly and the governor.