Stop Gerrymandering

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Statement on Proposed Constitutional Amendment

The New River Valley Greens urge Virginians to vote “no” on the proposed amendment to the State Constitution in the upcoming special election on April 21st. This amendment will gerrymander Virginia’s congressional districts, granting politicians the power to select their constituents instead of the other way around. As a party which highly values democracy, we continue to oppose efforts to gerrymander districts, regardless of which party benefits.

In 2020, Virginia voters approved a Constitutional amendment which set up a bipartisan redistricting commission of legislators and their handpicked constituents. This was a flawed solution, still granting legislators too much power in the redistricting process. The commission failed to agree on a map; Instead, it was drawn by the Virginia Supreme Court. Because the map was drawn by a relatively independent body, Virginia has enjoyed fair electoral districts that accurately reflect the will of Virginia voters.

Now, Democrats are usurping this Constitutional process. They point to Republican gerrymandering in other states, hoping that fear of the Trump administration will convince voters to sacrifice democracy for short-term political expediency. Knowing the weakness and hypocrisy of this position, however, the Democrats are relying on other tactics. They selected deceptive language for the ballot, which falsely claims to be restoring “fairness” when it is in fact imposing a 10-1 advantage in Democrat’s favor. Further, they put the measure on the ballot during a low-turnout special election, hoping it will go unnoticed, so that they can claim the mantle of popular support for an unpopular power grab. We will not be so easily fooled.

Virginia does not need more gerrymandering. Instead, we need a completely independent, non-partisan redistricting commission which draws district maps according to neutral criteria like compactness, contiguity, and communities of interest. As we fight for this, we must not allow legislators to rig elections in their favor. For these reasons, the NRV Greens strongly oppose the amendment and call on Virginians to vote “no” on April 21st.

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