Ed. — Archived from the Sunday, Aug. 11, print edition.
COURTHOUSE — A panel of federal judges recently upheld a decision to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to undo a 10-district local voting system that was first used in Virginia Beach in 2022 — and is soon to be used again in City Council and School Board elections.
In March, U.S. District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson dismissed a suit filed by Donald Edwards and Richard “R.K.” Kowalewitch, who had argued that Virginia Beach illegally implemented the 10-district system without securing a needed change to the city charter from the General Assembly, among other claims.
Jackson, who also oversaw an earlier case that led to the implementation of the new system, determined the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuit and the issues raised fell under state, not federal, law.
Kowalewitch, who is running for mayor, said the plaintiffs intended to challenge the decision by the appeals courts and could take their complaint to the Supreme Court.
“I knew this was going to happen, and I know I’m 100 percent right,” Kowalewitch said during an interview on Saturday, Aug. 3. “There’s no doubt the charter says what it says. There’s no doubt the city didn’t follow the charter. In clear, unambiguous language for any citizen to read for themselves, the charter takes precedent over the state general law.”
“The Fourth Circuit has spoken and affirmed the ruling of the district court dismissing the suit, and so we are gratified by that result,” Deputy City Attorney Chris Boynton said on Wednesday, Aug. 7. “We await to see whether Mr. Kowalewitch or Mr. Edwards do anything further on that.”
Boynton said there has been no indication any of litigation involving the 10-district system will effect the 2024 local elections in Virginia Beach.
“Early voting is starting mid-September,” he said, “and we’re anticipating a normal election under the 10-1 system.”
The appeals court panel upheld Jackson’s dismissal of the matter in a decision published on Tuesday, July 30, based upon information and arguments filed with the court.
The judges dispensed with oral arguments in the matter, saying there was enough already in the record to make their determination. U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Judges A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr., Pamela A. Harris and Roger L. Gregory made the decision.
“We have reviewed the record and find no reversible error,” the panel wrote. “Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order.”
The federal litigation is unrelated to an ongoing lawsuit challenging the voting system in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
That suit includes former City Councilmember Linwood Branch among its plaintiffs. Both Branch and Kowalewitch ran for local office in 2022 under the system they since have challenged in court.
The 10-district voting system, which was designed by a special master appointed by Jackson, came about after plaintiffs Georgia Allen and Latasha Holloway challenged the former voting system here as discriminatory under the U.S. Voting Rights Act.
That lawsuit and changes to state law directly addressed controversial aspects of the former local voting system, in which all city voters selected representatives in a mix of at-large, or citywide, seats and district seats – even when the voters did not live within a residency district.
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