Early voting is proceeding at a brisk pace for the upcoming statewide referendum on whether to temporarily redraw Virginia’s congressional districts.
The referendum election to temporarily amend the state constitution is being held this Tuesday, April 21. Polls will be open at the usual precincts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. However, many voters have already cast their ballots.
In Rockbridge County, 3,064 people have cast inperson ballots and another 412 mailed-in absentee ballots have been received. An average of more than 100 inperson ballots have been cast each day, with 132 being cast Monday. All told, about 20 percent of registered voters in the county have cast ballots.
In Lexington, 21 percent of registered voters have cast ballots. Through Monday, 760 in-person votes had been cast and 153 mailed-in absentee ballots had been received.
In Buena Vista, 14 percent of registered voters have cast ballots – 760 in person and 153 through the mail.
The question on the ballot voters are answering is as follows: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats. The proposed redistricting plan could allow Democrats to gain as many as four additional seats. Rockbridge County, Buena Vista and Lexington are currently in Virginia’s Sixth District, which is represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Ben Cline. Under the redistricting plan, all three of the Rockbridge area jurisdictions would move into the Ninth District, currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith.
Virginia’s voters in 2020 approved a state constitutional amendment to have a bipartisan commission draw the state’s legislative districts. The amendment contained a provision to have the Virginia Supreme Court draw the new lines if the bipartisan commission couldn’t agree to the redistricting plan. That happened, and the court’s redrawn district lines are the ones that are currently in effect.
Redistricting has traditionally occurred every 10 years following the completion of the U.S. Census population count. Mid-decennial redistricting is now occurring in several states, motivated by a desire of the party in power to gain an advantage in the congressional elections that are being held later this year. It began with the Republicandominated state legislature doing it in Texas and was followed by the Democratdominated state legislature doing it in California. Several other states, including Virginia, have followed suit.
Multiple lawsuits challenging the legality of Virginia’s referendum are pending before the state supreme court. The results of those legal challenges won’t be known until after the referendum so it’s possible that the election could later be deemed invalid.
Because of the uncertainty posed by possible redistricting, primaries to determine party nominees in Virginia’s Nov. 3 congressional elections have been postponed from June 16 to Aug. 4.
