The Failure to reach Agreement on any Maps, with time running out to Reconvene, marks a stunning Departure from the type of Redistricting Overhaul Voters sought when they Approved the Commission last year.
While Voters and Advocates hoped to End Gerrymandering, instead what they got was a Stalemate, as Commissioners Gridlocked along Party Lines, almost every step of the way.
The Commission consists of 16 Commissioners:
- Eight Commissioners are Legislative Members, Four of the Senate of Virginia, and Four of the House of Delegates.
- Senate Members, Two must be Members of the Majority Political Party, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and Two shall represent the Political Party having the Next Highest Number of Members, appointed by the Leader of that Political Party.
- House Members, Two must be Members of the Majority Political Party, appointed by the Speaker of the House, and Two shall represent the Political Party having the Next Highest Number of Members in the House of Delegates, and shall be appointed by the Leader of that Political Party.
Eight Commissioners must be Citizen Members who are Selected in accordance with the Virginia Constitution and State Law.
Even as Commissioners acknowledged that Partisanship had fatally infected their Deliberations, None appeared willing to set their Partisan Preferences aside, raising Questions about whether it is even possible, in such a Divisive Environment for Two Parties to agree on the meaning of a Politically Fair Map.
Republicans in the General Assembly pushed the Creation of the Bipartisan redistricting Commission, just before Losing the Majority in 2019.
Under the Amendment, the Commission is composed of Eight Legislators and Eight Citizens, evenly Divided by Party, and its Members are Appointed by the General Assembly’s Democratic and Republican Leadership.
But Democrats, while initially Receptive to the Overhaul, ultimately Splintered.
The Process was “doomed from the start,” said the Nonpartisan Cook Political Report’s Redistricting Expert, Dave Wasserman.
The Amendment also required a Supermajority of Citizens and Legislators to pass a Map, which the Architects intended to Prevent any One Group from having too much sway.
But Wasserman argued the Commission’s Fatal Flaw was the Decision to Forgo creating any kind of Tiebreaking Mechanism, such as the Inclusion of Third-Party or Independents, on the Commission.
But Virginia does Not require Party Registration.
“It’s a fool’s errand to believe that partisans appointed by party leaders are going to get in a room and hash out their differences to draw a map that neither party fully likes,” Wasserman said. “Unless there’s some mechanism for breaking a tie in favor of one party or the other, which New Jersey has, which Arizona has, which Montana has, there is never a chance of success.”
The Virginia Constitution leaves the Responsibility of formally adopting the Congressional and State Legislative District Maps with the General Assembly, but the General Assembly is Not Permitted to make any Amendments to the Plan submitted by the Commission. The General Assembly must Vote on Bills that Outline the Plans for Districts set forth by the Commission. State Legislative Districts, House and Senate, must be taken up in a Single Bill, and Congressional Districts in a separate Bill. The General Assembly must pass a Bill by a simple Majority for the Districts to be Adopted.
The Virginia Constitution states that, if the General Assembly Fails to adopt the Bill by the 15-day Deadline, the Commission must Submit a New Plan for Districts to the General Assembly within 14 days of the General Assembly's Failure to adopt the Bill. The General Assembly must take a Vote on the Bill embodying the Revised Plan within Seven days of Receipt of the New Plan(s).
Per the Virginia Constitution, if the General Assembly Fails to Adopt the Second Redistricting Plans by the Seven-day Requirement, the Map(s) shall be established by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
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