The ACLU of Virginia is on board with a push to call for special elections for the House of Delegates for later this year.
Other groups, including the League of Women Voters and the Virginia NAACP, have been out in front on the need for special elections, given the newly-drawn districts resulting from the redistricting done following the 2020 census.
According to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project, under the old maps, one Northern Virginia district based in Loudoun County now has a population of over 130,000, while other districts in Southside and Southwest Virginia have less than 70,000 people.
“The new maps rectify these issues and restore the principle of ‘one person, one vote,” said Mary Baur, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia.
“Now that we have fair, non-partisan maps, we should have an election where legislators run for election in those new, more representative districts. Allowing delegates to continue to operate from politically gerrymandered maps undermines the most deeply held principles of our democracy,” Baur said.
“We have said it again and again, and we won’t stop saying it: Let Virginia’s voters decide. It’s time for Virginia voters to select their delegates in a fair race,” Baur said.
Story by Chris Graham
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