Redistricting Headlines Oct 6 2021: Indiana Adopts Maps. Arizona Begins Map-Drawing and Virginia Commission is at a Stalemate

By EditorOct 06, 2021

A quick look at redistricting-related news across the USA. Arizona: In first moves to draw political maps, Arizona redistricting panel eyes major changes Colorado: Colorado congressional redistricting: Latino advocates, others object to map at state supreme court Indiana: Gov. Holcomb signs Indiana's redistricting maps into law Iowa: Iowa Legislature meets to consider redistricting maps Maryland: In Maryland, 2 separate redistricting commissions look to redraw the legislative map Michigan: Redistricting panel nears end of mapping process, start of public hearing period Michigan: Expert: Michigan redistricting panel can make maps fairer Virginia: ‘We’re sort of stuck:’ Va. Redistricting Commission divided over race…

RedistrictingArizona, headlines, Indiana, Virginia

VA Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Prisoner Reallocation Law

By EditorSep 23, 2021

The Virginia Supreme Court has rejected a legal challenge to a state law that changes how prison inmates are counted for purposes of redistricting. The petition for a writ of mandamus from the court had alleged that the Virginia legislature acted outside of the "prescribed constitutional amendment process" when it enacted statutory criteria regarding the reallocation of prisoners. It argued that while the commission along with other redistricting criteria was created through referendum and constitutional amendments, the prisoner reallocation statute was not and thus violates the state constitution. The petition had asked the state supreme court to prohibit the commission…

Case Updates, Casedocs, LAW, NEWS, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Prisoners, State LawsCASEDOCS, lawindepth, lpstatelaw, policyindepth, Prison gerrymandering, prisoner reallocation, STATENEWS, Virginia

VA State Redistricting Commission Divided on Map Drawing Approach

By EditorAug 06, 2021

The Virginia Redistricting Commission was advised its lawyers to revise existing maps rather than start from scratch, due to time and resources constraints. Read the full wvtf.org story. Listen to audio excerpts from the commission meeting below. Full commission meeting video is available on the Virginia state almanac page. Virginia Public Radio : WVTF (Aug 4, 2021)

NEWS, Official Redistricting Entities, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting, Redistricting Commissions, Redistricting FunctionsEntities, IN-DEPTH, STATENEWS, Virginia

Watch: The New Virginia Redistricting Commission Conducts its First Full Meeting

By EditorJan 31, 2021

The brand new 2021 Virginia Redistricting Commission is up and running. This is new for the state, so all eyes will be on the 16-member commission as redistricting looms. You can watch the meetings here on RedistrictingOnline. Watch commission meetings via Redistrictingonline's Youtube playlist or the Virginia state info page to keep up to date on the commission and redistricting in Virginia in general. The commission is made up of eight citizen members and eight members of the state General Assembly. The commission held its first meeting as a full commission on January 21. There will lots for the commissioners…

FEATURES, LATEST, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting, Redistricting Commissions, VIDEOcommission, meetings, policyindepth, redistricting, STATENEWS, States, Virginia

Redistrictingonline Monthly Redistricting Update (March 2017)

By EditorApr 04, 2017

Politics Roll Call interviews National Democratic Redistricting Committee Executive Director Kelly Ward about its strategy going into 2020: Watch: Inside the Democrat Party’s National Redistricting Strategy In-Depth Late in 2016, PBS’s American Law Journal gave an in-depth treatment of gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. Hosts interview lawmakers, review the technology behind redistricting and cover reform efforts: Watch: PBS Covers Pennsylvania Gerrymandering and Reform In-Depth Litigation Six years in the making, a federal district court panel released its opinion late last month in the long arduous litigation we call Texas Redistricting. We explain what that means and survey the news coverage in Texas Congressional Districts Invalidated by…

RedistrictingArizona, Florida, reform, Texas, texas redistricting, Virginia

Listen: NPR Spotlights Redistricting Reform in Virginia

By EditorMar 20, 2017

Virginia - NPR interviews the executive director of One Virginia 2021, a nonpartisan organization that's challenging the constitutionality of 11 state legislative district boundaries.

Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, REFORMgerrymandering, NPR, reform, Virginia

Packing Minorities Into Districts. When Is That Ever Okay?

By EditorDec 05, 2016

Washington DC - The Supreme Court will tackle that question today as it hears oral arguments in two redistricting cases. Both cases are alleged racial gerrymander claims; one orginating from Virginia's state legislative map and the other from North Carolina's congressional district map. (more…)

Race in Redistricting, Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race Rules, Voting Rights Actgerrymandering, lawindepth, legal, lpvra, North Carolina, racial gerrymandering, scotus, Supreme Court, Virginia, Voting Rights Act, washington dc

VA State Supreme Court Blocks Executive Order Restoring Voting Rights to Felons

By EditorJul 25, 2016

Virginia - On Friday, Virginia's state supreme court blocked governor Terry McAuliffe’s move to restore voting rights to felons that have completed their sentence in a scathing 4-3 opinion that chided the state's top executive for the “unprecedented scope, magnitude, and categorical nature” of the executive order. Read more in the Wall Street Journal. The court emphasized that the governor's clemency powers were meant to be affected on a case-by-case basis. 11,600 former felons are already registered to vote under the now defunct order. Those registrations will now be cancelled per the court's order. Dissenting judges contended that the…

RedistrictingFelon Voting, Virginia

Virginia Mistakenly Restored Voting Rights to “Worst Sexual Predators”

By EditorJun 23, 2016

Virginia - Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe’s April restoration of voting rights to felons that have completed their full sentence, hit a snafu last week when it was discovered that a small group of "ineligible" people had been inadvertently put on the list of eligible voters; Sex offenders who have been civilly committed to a treatment facility. Read more at triblive.

RedistrictingVirginia, voter ID

Virginia Supreme Court to Mull Governor’s Felon Voting Rights Expansion

By EditorJun 10, 2016

Virginia - The Virginia Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe’s April order restoring voting rights to over 200,000 of the state's felons in a special session scheduled for Tuesday, July 19. The Virginia Attorney General plans a four-point defense of the governor's authority under the State constitution to restore felon voting rights. Read more in the Richmond Free Press. The change is sweeping: Nearly half of African-Americans in Virginia, which makeup 20% of the population - are affected by the civil war era law. Read more in the New York Times. Watch a local television…

RedistrictingFelon Voting, Virginia