Reapportionment and Redistricting

REAPPORTIONMENT AND REDISTRICTING
The League of Women Voters of Virginia supports the establishment, in law, of a politically balanced and independent Reapportionment Commission for each decennial redistricting to prepare, with the Virginia Department of Legislative Services, a plan for submission to the legislature as specified by the Virginia Constitution. The Commission should be bi-partisan and be composed of individuals who are not elected officials; they should represent the geographical distribution and demographic diversity of the state, and consist of an uneven number of members.
In addition to the Virginia constitutional requirement of equal population, contiguous and compact districts and the Voting Rights Act requirements for protecting the voting strength of minority groups, the League supports the following considerations in redistricting:

Natural geographic boundaries;

Jurisdictional boundaries;

Communities of interest; and

Competitiveness

The Virginia constitution should be amended to provide that redistricting will occur on a decennial basis only. (2007)

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