A panel of federal judges on Friday ruled that Virginia lawmakers must redraw the state’s congressional map because it places too many black voters in one particular district at the expense of their influence in other districts.
“Because plaintiffs have shown that race predominated in Virginia’s 2012 plan and because defendants have failed to establish that this race-based redistricting satisfies strict scrutiny, we find that the 2012 plan is unconstitutional and will require the commonwealth to draw a new congressional district plan,” the judges wrote in the 2-1 decision, as quoted by The Roanoke Times.
The ruling upholds a previous decision by the same panel to strike down the map because too many black voters had been packed into Virginia’s 3rd congressional district, represented by Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA). The state legislature’s 2012 redistricting plan increased the number of voting-age blacks in Scott’s district by 44,711, according to The Roanoke Times.
Republicans currently have an 8-3 advantage over Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation.
The panel of judges ordered the Virginia House of Delegates to redraw the map by Sept. 1, which The Washington Post points out would force the state’s General Assembly to hold a special summer session. But the state’s Republican congressional delegation is likely to appeal the latest decision, according to the newspaper.
