Virginia Adjusting District Boundaries Amendment (2020)
| Virginia Adjusting District Boundaries Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Redistricting measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Virginia Adjusting District Boundaries Amendment was not on the ballot in Virginia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.[1]
This measure would have allowed the state legislature to make technical adjustments to district boundaries during the redistricting process "solely for the purpose of causing such district boundaries to coincide with the boundaries of voting precincts established in the counties and cities"[2]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article II, Virginia Constitution
The measure would have amended section 6 of Article II of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added:[2] Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
Section 6. Apportionment.
Members of the House of Representatives of the United States and members of the Senate and of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly shall be elected from electoral districts established by the General Assembly. Every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory and shall be so constituted as to give, as nearly as is practicable, representation in proportion to the population of the district. The General Assembly shall reapportion the Commonwealth into electoral districts in accordance with this section in the year 2011 and every ten years thereafter.
Any such decennial reapportionment law shall take effect immediately and not be subject to the limitations contained in Article IV, Section 13, of this Constitution.
Subsequent to the enactment of any decennial reapportionment law, the General Assembly may make technical adjustments to legislative electoral district boundaries solely for the purpose of causing such district boundaries to coincide with the boundaries of voting precincts established in the counties and cities. Such adjustments shall change legislative electoral district boundaries only to the extent necessary to accomplish this purpose, and any change made shall be consistent with any criteria for legislative electoral districts adopted for the preceding decennial redistricting.
The districts delineated in the decennial reapportionment law shall be implemented for the November general election for the United States House of Representatives, Senate, or House of Delegates, respectively, that is held immediately prior to the expiration of the term being served in the year that the reapportionment law is required to be enacted. A member in office at the time that a decennial redistricting law is enacted shall complete his term of office and shall continue to represent the district from which he was elected for the duration of such term of office so long as he does not move his residence from the district from which he was elected. Any vacancy occurring during such term shall be filled from the same district that elected the member whose vacancy is being filled. [3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Virginia Constitution
In Virginia, a constitutional amendment needs to be passed by a simple majority vote in both chambers of the state legislature over two consecutive legislative sessions to be certified for the ballot.
2019 legislative session
This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 591 on January 9, 2019, by Rep. Mark Cole (R-88). On February 4, 2019, the state House passed HJR 591 along party lines in a vote of 51 to 47. One Democrat, Charniele Herring was recorded as not voting, though she intended to vote no. On February 18, 2019, the Senate passed the measure along party lines in a vote of 21 to 19.[1]
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2020 legislative session
The constitutional amendment was not voted on during the 2020 legislative session.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Virginia State Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 591," accessed February 19, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Virginia Legislature, "HJR 591 Full Text," accessed February 19, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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