Nonpartisan redistricting bills die in Virginia House subcommittee

The House Privileges and Elections Elections Subcommittee heard and blocked three bills that would have created a way of drawing districts that is fairer to voters, giving rise to a more representative democracy for Virginia.

• HB 26 – Sullivan: Would have set more rigorous, nonpartisan standards by which General Assembly and Congressional districts must be drawn.
• HB 247 – Ward: Would have allowed voters to participate in a referendum asking if they’d like to implement a nonpartisan redistricting commission.
• HB 303 – Rasoul: Would have created the Virginia Interim Redistricting Commission, which would have been charged with drawing fair lines when district borders in Virginia were found to be unconstitutional.

All the bills concerning redistricting were laid on the table in a 4-3 block vote.

“Gerrymandering has created a hyper-partisan legislature, both at the state and national levels. A fair redistricting process would be a good first step toward fixing that problem,”said Delegate Sam Rasoul (11^th – Roanoke). “Voters should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. Although we didn’t fix the problem today, House Democrats will continue driving the effort to make elections as fair as possible.”