See here for comments by top Democratic elections attorney, Marc Elias, to the Virginia Supreme Court re: “the court-appointed Special Masters’ congressional map released on December 8.” In his comments, Elias rips the “Special Masters'” congressional map as:
- “…haphazard, unprincipled process that is unmoored from the history, tradition, and communities that form the Commonwealth”
- “fall[ing] short on numerous traditional redistricting principles, even failing to
achieve the population equality that is the singular driving force behind this entire decennial process.” - “Worse, it does so to the detriment of minority populations, which constituted the whole of Virginia’s population growth over the last decade, and to the detriment of Virginia’s close-knit communities, which it dices and divides with a complete lack of precision.”
- “If adopted, the December 8 Map would likely suffer from the same fate as its 2011 predecessor—years of tumult in the courts.”
- “The Court’s Special Masters produce a map that fails to comply with the law”
- “The December 8 Map appears to impermissibly use race as a predominant factor”
- “The December 8 Map fails to respect communities of interest”
And Elias adds:
“In light of the December 8 Map’s failures, and pursuant to Virginia law and this Court’s rules inviting public participation in the Court’s redistricting deliberations,5 we submit the attached congressional map (the “Farkas Map”) on behalf of our client for consideration by the Supreme Court of Virginia and its Special Masters.6 The Farkas Map satisfies all applicable provisions of federal and Virginia law. Importantly, it achieves strict population equality, preserves communities of interest, and ensures that the voting strength of Virginia’s growing racial and ethnic minority population is not diluted. We strongly encourage the Special Masters and this Court to adopt the Farkas Map for Virginia’s congressional districts.”
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
