Gerrymandering: Amendment One On The Agenda

Your ballot this fall has an amendment that will change how districts are drawn in Virginia for the General Assembly and for Congress. Instead of allowing the General Assembly to draw maps, the amendment will create a new 16-member commission to create political boundaries. Critics worry that the amendment does not require racial diversity on the commission, a problem considering Virginia’s recent history with racial gerrymandering. Supporters say the newly created commission is an improvement over the old way of doing things, where the party in power screws the political opponents, just like Elbridge Gerry did more than 200 years ago.