Any chance of progress on a constitutional amendment or legislation changing the way Virginia draws its congressional and legislative boundaries is all but dead in the General Assembly session. Thirteen of the 14 bills and proposed constitutional amendments addressing the creation of a redistricting commission, including a number aimed at a nonpartisan approach, failed to pass both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate. While the Senate passed four redistricting measures on its own, three of them — in addition to 10 similar bills and resolutions filed by members of the House — were killed or left to die in the House Privileges and Elections Committee. The lone remaining piece of redistricting legislation — Senate Joint Resolution 284, sponsored by Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier — is headed to almost certain demise Friday morning in a P&E subcommittee.
“Election outcomes are being rigged by gerrymandered districts,” read an email sent Thursday by the progressive group Virginia Now, urging supporters to email committee members before the Friday meeting on Vogel’s bill.
“Some of our most obstructionist legislators are from ‘safe’ districts, where they either face no competition or face competition from the tea party right.”
“We agree with OneVirginia2021,” a coalition pushing for a nonpartisan redistricting process, that “it’s time to reform the hyper partisan and political way we redistrict,” the email continues. “It’s time for politicians to stop picking their voters.”
Full Article: House GOP in no hurry to tackle redistricting process – The Daily Progress: Local.