Remove Local Redistricting Commission Requirement from HJ615 At-A-Glance Issue Brief House Legislation: HJ615 (Cole): Constitutional amendment; apportionment, state HJ615 (Cole) and local redistricting commissions Senate Legislation: The House and Senate have each introduced resolutions to establish SJ306 (Barker) bipartisan redistricting commissions. The Senate version, SJ306 (Barker) addresses the State only. The House version, HJ615 (Cole) Issue: would require localities with district-based elections to establish Redistricting commissions for commissions, adhering to the same requirements as that of the state and local elections State. Cities and Towns Potentially Concerns Impacted: 25 HJ615 would introduce partisanship into otherwise nonpartisan local electoral processes and would undermine systems already in place Current GA Committee: that protect the rights of local voters. Most district-based electoral Senate Privileges and Elections systems have been established in response to either Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act or the Department of Justice. This resolution also Committee Members: imposes timelines that could conflict with local election schedules. Chair – Jill Holtzman Vogel [email protected] Janet Howell Potentially Impacted Cities and Towns [email protected] Alexandria* Halifax* Poquoson* Creigh Deeds Berryville* Hillsville* Richmond* [email protected] Blackstone* Hopewell* South Hill* John Edwards Courtland* Lawrenceville* Suffolk* [email protected] Covington* Lynchburg Virginia Beach* Bryce Reeves Emporia Newport News* Warrenton* [email protected] Farmville* Norfolk* Waynesboro* Adam Ebbin Franklin* Petersburg* Winchester [email protected] Fredericksburg* Ben Chafin [email protected] *Indicates locality holds only nonpartisan elections. Bill DeSteph Key Points [email protected] Amanda Chase • The vast majority of cities and towns across Virginia have [email protected] nonpartisan local government. Virginia is not unique in this Frank Ruff regard: Nationwide, approximately 75 percent of municipalities [email protected] have nonpartisan elections. John Cosgrove • There is not a partisan way of responding to public safety, street [email protected] improvements, enforcing the codes, or taxation required for the Rosalyn Dance various services that the state requires localities to offer (and pay [email protected] for). Lionell Spruill • HJ615 will unnaturally introduce partisanship into nonpartisan [email protected] local activities. Mark Peake • VML opposes the imposition of partisanship and procedural [email protected] mandates onto local elections by the State. Lobbyist : Jessica Ackerman [email protected] 804-400-1191 .