Home Virginia Politics Video: Virginia House of Delegates Rejects Substitute, Adopts Fatally Flawed Redistricting Amendment…with...

Video: Virginia House of Delegates Rejects Substitute, Adopts Fatally Flawed Redistricting Amendment…with the Overwhelming Majority of Dems Voting Against

As Progress VA says, "For any further quote, we refer you to the words of Black Delegates on the floor.”

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I’m really not pleased right now…disgusted and sad about what just happened (see below), with the fatally flawed, godawful redistricting amendment *barely* passing the Virginia House of Delegates.  In the end, not at all surprisingly since it benefits *them*, every Republican voted for this garbage, while the overwhelming majority of Democrats voted against it, as well they should have. Unfortunately, there were just enough Democrats who (inexplicably) voted for the amendment, and against Del. Marcus Simon’s superb substitute, to give the Republicans and right-wing groups a big win today. Huge, huge mistake, and a discordant end to what had been an overall excellent, even triumphant, session. Now, the only hope for rejecting this cluster**** amendment is the voters in November….

By the way, in addition to Del. Marcus Simon, superb job by Delegates Cia Price, Don Scott, Lamont Bagby, Danica Roem, Lee Carter, Jeff Bourne, Mark Levine, Jay Jones, Kaye Kory, Luke Torian and Wendy Gooditis, all of whom spoke against this amendment. Also note that not a single African-American member of the House of Delegates vote for this, and for VERY good reasons. And yes, all their Democratic colleagues absolutely should have stood with them – and most did, but not enough. Ugh.

With that, here are some statements, with video as soon as it’s finished uploading to YouTube…

P.S. What on earth were Senate Dems, first and foremost Sen. George Barker, *thinking*???

First, Speaker Filler-Corn, who opposed the amendment:

“The Constitution of Virginia requires a rigorous review over multiple legislative sessions before Amendments can be put before the voters. After the required yearlong review and discussion, I concluded that this Amendment was not ready to move on to the ballot.

I could not ignore the fact that the Amendment, as written, fails to prevent politicization of map-drawing and does not sufficiently ensure inclusion of communities of color in the redistricting process. We must be vigilant and adhere to an extraordinarily high standard when proceeding with permanently changing the Constitution. In my opinion, this Amendment fails to meet that standard.” – Eileen Filler-Corn, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates 

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Progress Virginia Statement on Passage of SJ18

Progress Virginia, the commonwealth’s voice for progressive values, released the following statement on House passage of SJ18 in a close vote: “We are disappointed and dismayed at the passage of SJ18, which enshrines the power of partisan legislators to draw district maps in our constitution while failing to protect communities of color. For any further quote, we refer you to the words of Black Delegates on the floor.”

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