VIRGINIA BEACH — A federal judge on Wednesday, Dec. 22, ordered the city of Virginia Beach to implement a new local election system creating 10 voting districts, including some with better opportunities for minority voters to elect representatives of their choice.
U.S. District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson ordered Virginia Beach to adopt a plan by a court-appointed voting rights expert to create 10 new districts for City Council races. The decision is expected to effect School Board elections because they essentially mirror council elections, though the board was not a party in the lawsuit.
Candidates for seats on the council must live within the districts in which they seek office, and, under the new system, only residents of a district can vote in the election for that seat. This last point is a change from Virginia Beach’s longtime “at-large” system, in which all city voters cast ballots in all council races — even when they lived outside a district. The mayor, who serves as the 11th member of the council, still will be selected by all city voters.
The judgement is the culmination of a civil lawsuit in which plaintiffs Latasha Holloway, a community activist who recently announced she will run for mayor, and Georgia Allen, formerly the longtime head of the local NAACP, successfully argued Virginia Beach has denied Black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters the right to elect candidates of their choice. They were represented by the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, which on Friday, Dec. 24, declined to comment through a spokesperson.
“What a great day,” Holloway told The Independent News on Thursday, Dec. 23. “This is truly the season of joy and celebration and rejuvenation, and I’m so thrilled the judge has made this final order. This is the end of a Jim Crow relic that has promoted an apartheid at-large voting system in the city of Virginia Beach. The good citizens of the city of Virginia Beach are better for it.”
Deputy City Attorney Chris Boynton on Thursday, Dec. 23, said the city’s approach to the judge’s final order will be in two parts.
“First of all, the city will work with the registrar to prepare to implement the special master’s plan going forward,” Boynton said. “At the same time, the City Council has authorized an appeal of the district court’s prior liability decision, so we are moving forward with the appeal.”
Boynton said it is not yet clear what system will be used next year, when local elections are scheduled for several City Council and School Board seats. The city is seeking an expedited appeal in the case, he said.
Earlier this year, Jackson determined the city’s unusual at-large system, which mixes at-large, or citywide, seats and seven district seats, was unconstitutional because it prevented minority communities to have a fair say in City Council elections. The plan by Dr. Bernard Grofman, a political scientist who served as a special master in the case, remedies violations of the U.S. Voting Rights Act identified by the court, Jackson wrote in his final order on Tuesday, Dec. 2. In a judgment issued the same day as the final order, Jackson directed the city to implement the plan.
Though the lawsuit dealt only with council elections, the new system is expected to effect School Board races, too. A story about possible effects of the new districts on the board appears in the Sunday, Dec. 12, print edition of The Independent News and also can be read at this link.
Virginia Beach’s at-large voting system has been unusual because even people who live outside a district can help select the person who represents that district. Under the ruling and Jackson’s order in the case earlier this year, that ends. Changes to state law this past year also doomed that long-controversial practice.
Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson on Thursday, Dec. 23, said the City Council will discuss options with the city attorney’s office.
“We actually thought the system we had served our citizens well overall throughout the years because they could vote for everyone,” Wilson said. “Before they could vote for 11 people, and now they can vote for two. I think people lost their voting power.”
City Councilmember Barbara Henley, who represents the Princess Anne District, said members of the council look forward to meeting with the city attorneys. Henley, who has supported the previous system, said she hopes to have a better understanding of issues such as how lines of the new maps include precincts.
Jackson’s ruling on Wednesday, Dec. 22, says the special master’s plan remedies violations of the Voting Rights Act that were identified by the court and shows the minority community of Black, Hispanic and Asian-American people “is politically cohesive because of their tendency to vote together for similar preferred candidates.”
Additionally, the judge wrote that the special master’s report shows that white voters in the city have “voted sufficiently as a bloc to enable them to usually defeat minority-preferred candidates.”
Ed. — This is a developing story. Additional information is scheduled to run in the Sunday, Jan. 2, print edition. Previous stories about the voting system changes in Virginia Beach can be found at this link. This story was updated on Friday, Dec. 24, to include information that the Campaign Legal Center declined to comment and on Saturday, Dec. 25, to include a link to the final order, which is now available at the city website.
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Since when did / does the Federal government have jurisdiction over a local community? This should be thrown out for being presented in the wrong court.
The merits of the complaint may exist but this is a State matter not Federal. We are speaking of local elections not Federal.
Thanks for your comment. The U.S. Voting Rights Act is federal law. The American civil rights movement might be a matter for people interested in the topic of federal involvement in local election processes to consider.
What a bunch of crap. System in place works equally fine for all and is reflective of all persons voting. If it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it. Once again the minority dictates to the majority. Judge forgot they’re suppose to be impartial. Dem. Appointed judge here!
You are so right Sir! 😉