OneVirginia2021
Formation2013
TypeNon-Profit Political Advocacy
Location
Websitehttp://onevirginia2021.org/

OneVirginia2021 is an American civic non-profit organization founded to advocate for a non-partisan redistricting of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The group was founded in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2013 and is currently based in Richmond, Virginia.[1]

2019 Constitutional amendment

In 2018, OneVirginia2021 convened a bipartisan committee of former legislators. This committee drafted a model constitutional amendment, which was proposed to the Virginia State Assembly in the 2019 session. The proposal emphasized a separate redistricting commission, transparency and citizen participation. Many of these recommendations were included in the legislation passed in the 2019 Assembly Session.[2]

In 2019, the Virginia General Assembly passed the “first read” of a constitutional amendment, Virginia Redistricting Reform Amendment (HJ615/SJ306), that would end partisan gerrymandering in the commonwealth. This bill was passed by a vote of 83-15 in the House of Delegates and 39-1 in the Virginia Senate. The main components of this include citizen involvement, transparency, and mitigation of partisan gerrymandering. It would create a sixteen-member advisory commission and establish redistricting criteria for congressional and state legislative districts. It was passed by voters in November 2020.[3][4]

Other efforts

On September 14, 2015, OneVirginia2021 filed a suit in Vesilind v. Virginia State Board of Elections claiming 11 Virginia state districts fail the criteria of compactness outlined by the Virginia State Constitution.[5] In an official release, OneVirginia2021 executive director Brian Cannon says, “Far from having a standard, the legislature effectively ignored the Constitution on this point, and gave us distorted, weirdly shaped districts that break up communities and rig elections by depriving voters of meaningful competition”.[6][7] The Virginia supreme court upheld the districts.[8]

In 2015, OneVirginia2021 backed SJ 284, an independent redistricting commission with non-partisan criteria co-patroned by Virginia Senators Jill Vogel (R) and Louise Lucas (D).[9]

OneVirginia2021, in conjunction with Richmond public broadcasting station WCVE, produced a documentary film about gerrymandering. The documentary examines the historical context and consequences of gerrymandering through a multi-partisan lens.[10] The documentary is titled GerryRIGGED: Turning Democracy On Its Head and was premiered on WCVE on October 24, 2016.[11][12][13]

OneVirginia2021 has Local Action Groups (LAGs) across the state, which promote redistricting reform in their local regions.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ CO+LAB. "About Us - OneVirginia2021". OneVirginia2021. Archived from the original on 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  2. ↑ "A.E. Dick Howard column: Redistricting Commission amendment is a landmark, but work remains to put it in the Virginia Constitution". Richmond.com. 2019-03-19. Archived from the original on 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  3. ↑ "The Constitutional Amendment". OneVirginia2021. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Virginians approve turning redistricting over to bipartisan commission". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  5. ↑ "New Lawsuit Filed Over Va. House and Senate District Boundaries". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  6. ↑ "UPDATE: The Politics of Self-Preservation". richmondmagazine.com. 2015-09-15. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  7. ↑ "Advocates fight in Supreme Court to end gerrymandering". The Henrico Citizen. Archived from the original on 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  8. ↑ "Vesilind v. Board of Elections". Justia. Archived from the original on 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  9. ↑ "Bill Tracking - 2015 session > Legislation". leg1.state.va.us. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  10. ↑ Fields, Lanny (2016-02-19). "Documentary on Redistricting Reform Coming to WCVE PBS This Fall". Community Idea Stations. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  11. ↑ "GerryRIGGED: Turning Democracy On Its Head". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  12. ↑ "Documentary "Gerryrigged" conveys electoral line-drawing at its worst. And Virginia takes the spotlight". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  13. ↑ "New Va. film calls for action against gerrymandering". The Daily Progress. April 2017. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved Apr 1, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Local Action Groups". OneVirginia2021. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
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