Governor Vetoes General Assembly's Redistricting Plan

On Friday afternoon Governor Bob McDonnell vetoed a redistricting plan from the Virginia General Assembly, saying that he was concerned about "partisan gerrymandering" and the law's constitutionality.

While McDonnell indicated that he had no issues with the House, he took the Senate to task, saying that the Senate plan divided communities, did not provide equal representation among districts and failed to receive an adequate level of support from the Republican minority party. 

In a prepared statement, he cited the following reasons for vetoing the plan:

• "First, it is apparent that districts proposed in the Senate plan are not compact, as required in the Constitution of Virginia, do not preserve locality lines and communities of interest."
• "Second, I am concerned that the Senate plan may violate the one person-one vote ideal embodied in the United States and Virginia Constitutions. The Fourteenth Amendment of the United States provides for equal protection of the laws. This has been interpreted to require that legislative districts have as close to equal representation as practicable" 
• "Lastly, I am concerned that the Senate plan is the kind of partisan gerrymandering that Virginians have asked we leave in the past. The House of Delegates passed its plan on an overwhelming 86-8 vote, with twenty-eight affirmative votes from members of the minority party. Similarly, in 2001, both the House and Senate plans passed with bipartisan support. In stark contrast, the Senate plan failed to garner any votes in the Senate from the minority party."
• "In conclusion, after a careful review of the Senate plan, I have serious concerns that such a plan may violate state and federal law and could potentially subject Virginia to costly and unnecessary litigation."

To read the full letter, click on the pdf attached to this article.

Notably, the plan was criticized for splitting communities by . In Fairfax County, many residents also were upset that it into two districts, one represented along with Arlington County. Patch reported this week that 

"We continue to say you have a conflict of interest because you are choosing your voters instead of having voters choose you," Olga Hernandez, president of the League of Women Voters in Fairfax County. "Virginia can be a model for the country if you go about putting the people ahead of party protection."

Virginia is required by law to adjust the boundaries of the 40 state Senate seats and 100 delegate districts once every 10 years, based on Census numbers. 

Because of Virginia's past history with racial discrimination, state redistricting plans must be submitted to the Department of Justice for approval or rejection. The DOJ's review may take up to 61 days, which makes for a tight timetable, since primary elections take place near the beginning of September.