Redistricting reform under review by Democrats and Republicans

Virginia could soon pass legislation to reform redistricting, which is scheduled to take place after the 2021 census and would have significant implications for future elections.

During last year’s General Assembly, Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, proposed HJ 615 that would amend the state constitution to establish the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a 16-member non-partisan commission that would be in charge of the redistricting process.

Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, said in a phone interview that he believed HJ 615 was the best piece of legislation to come from the General Assembly last year.

“I absolutely believe that redistricting should be taken out of the hands of politicians,” Morrissey said. “For 100 years, both on the Democratic side and the Republican side, the party in power decided who they wanted to represent. They drew the districts favorable to themselves, and it was wrong. It was a violation of the state constitution which requires compact and continuous districts.”

Del. Glenn Davis, R-Virginia Beach, also voiced support for redistricting reform in a phone interview.

“I think that as much as possible, it needs to not be a political process,” Davis said. “Now all of us are human, everyone’s got a bias, and I think everyone is political in nature, but to the extent that you turn it over as much as possible into the citizen’s hands and take the politics out of it, the better off we are in the democratic process.”

Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, introduced a failed redistricting bill, SB 1327, last year, and said she supported the creation of an independent redistricting commission.

“We need redistricting that produces fair maps where voters choose their legislators, and not the other way around,” McClellan said in a phone interview. “I think one way to end partisan gerrymandering is to have an independent, bipartisan commission.”

The amendment passed last year, but proposed amendments to the state constitution must pass through the legislature without any changes in consecutive years before passing a statewide referendum vote to take effect.

However, some are uncertain if the Democratic Party will support the non-partisan agreement now that they have gained majority control of the legislature, including Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Clarksville.

“I support redistricting reform, with the greatest efforts on holding districts as tightly drawn as possible,” Ruff wrote in an email. “After several years of pushing for reform, it will be interesting if the Democrats now do an about-face.”

Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria, voted in favor of the amendment last year. According to his campaign website, he plans to vote differently during this session.

“I oppose the dangerous proposal to amend the Virginia Constitution to allow Republicans to gerrymander Virginia FOREVER,” Levine wrote on his website.

Levine believes an independent commission should draw district lines, but is concerned with the process included in the proposed amendment. According to HJ 615, if the legislature does not approve the commission’s lines, they are created by the justices of the Virginia Supreme Court, who were appointed during a Republican-led assembly.

Morrissey acknowledged the possibility of legislators having second thoughts about the bill, but encouraged his fellow Democrats to maintain their support for the amendment.

“Now that the Democrats have the power, I think it’s absolutely imperative that they pass the same bill,” Morrissey said. “If, for any reason, the Democrats don’t do that, and they start tinkering with this bill, the Democrats will regret it. And it would be a horrible decision. We passed it last year when we were in the minority, we need to stick to it this year even though we now have the power.”

– Staff writers Alexis Angelus and Arrman Kyaw contributed to this article.