RICHMOND, Va. — The pressure was on in the House Chambers on Thursday as delegates met for a special session on redistricting maps.
A court order in June called for lawmakers to create a new map by October 30, after finding overwhelming evidence that district lines sorted voters “by the color of their skin” and packed many African Americans into districts. It’s a form of gerrymandering, which is when voting district lines are drawn in a way to favor one group or party.
In the meantime, House Republicans have filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court following the court order.
Gov. Ralph Northam called for a special session on Thursday to address these issues.
The tension was clear right off the bat.
“All of Virginia is watching what we do,” Del. Steve Heretick (D – Portsmouth) said. “Our nation is watching what we do.”
The original map, deemed unconstitutional, was drawn in 2011. Democrats brought forward a bill that proposes new lines for 29 districts, including the 11 in question by the courts.
House Minority Leader David Toscano (D-Charlottesville) emphasized how delegates must act now to comply with the court’s order.
“We believe that [this bill] is constitutional in that it does not take race into effect,” he said.
Leader Toscano says this version of the bill also aims to address split precincts. Precincts are the location that voters go to cast their ballot, like a high school or town hall. If a precinct is split, that means people from different districts are going to the same location to vote. This can cause confusion for voters and pollsters alike.
“In the affected districts there were 41 split precincts. In those 11 affected districts now there are only 14 split precincts,” Leader Toscano said.
Sitting just seats away from the House Minority Leader, Del. Heretick called out the bill saying it’s doing the same thing over again.
“It’s self-serving political power grab. It’s gerrymandering in response to gerrymandering,” Del. Heretick said.
Del. Heretick mentioned how he was elected with the support of OneVirginia2021, which is a non-partisan group working towards fair redistricting. The issue of gerrymandering, he said, was close to his campaign.
The issue with how these lines were drawn by Democrats was also taken up by Republican leadership, saying the map protects blue seats.
“[It] goes to great lengths to protect four of their vulnerable members. It goes to great lengths to significantly weaken five incumbent Republicans,” House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R – Shenandoah) said.
The bill was moved to the Privileges and Election Committee for review and questioning. Lawmakers continued a back and forth, picking apart the bill and evaluating how much changed in some districts. For example, the court saw that The Fan district in Richmond (District 71) should be grouped all together. The current proposal on the table continues to split it up.
Governor Ralph Northam also issued a statement following the special session calling on the Republicans to act and stop delaying the process.
“It’s easier to criticize than it is to construct and the court offered the General Assembly the opportunity to remedy these unconstitutional, racially gerrymandered districts months ago,” Gov. Northam said in a statement. “If Republicans are going to criticize the constitutional map offered by Democrats today, they should produce their own.”
Lawmakers will be meeting again by the end of next month. They will give a 48-hour notice of when they return to the House Chambers. If no map is produced by the October 30 deadline, the court could appoint a judge to make a map.
This could affect the 2019 election when all of the House seats are up for grabs. The way these districts are drawn could tip the balance of power in the House, where Republicans currently have a slim 51-49 majority.
Another effort is happening with a group of concerned citizens. Just before the session began, about a hundred people packed into the House Briefing Room in the Pocahontas Building to hear about a citizens committee forming to draft a constitutional amendment. It’s spearheaded by OneVirginia2021.
The group, made up of former delegates and current lawyers, aims to come up with an amendment for non-partisan redistricting by an independent commission.
“We’re, we’re not going to draw maps. We’re not going to draw lines. We’re going to propose the process about which that is done,” Wyatt Durrette, the Citizens Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee Chairman, said.
This citizens committee hopes to have the amendment proposed and approved before redistricting happens in 2021. To take effect then, the amendment would have to be presented to when the General Assembly convenes this January.
