Virginia’s right to vote and gerrymandering: a look at five Virginia Conventions to the present.
Virginia constitutional conventions in 1776, 1829, 1850, 1868 and 1902 expressed the embodiment of the sovereign people, empowered to write constitutions that are superior to legislative statute, judicial precedent and executive proclamation. This is settled law in Virginia and the United States with or without a popular referendum ratifying the constitutional convention called for that dedicated purpose. In the present time the General Assembly passes a proposed provision twice, then a statewide referendum ratifies it.
But consent of the governed in all cases is societally grounded both in who in the population votes, and how their vote is counted. The modern convention in American democracy is for all adult residents over eighteen are qualified to vote. In Virginia, that enfranchisement excludes those with a felony conviction.
Control of state government on the basis of something other than the population represented in proportion to the people in places had a varied history in Virginia, first by representing the population in a mixed apportionment including property in slaves. favoring the slave-holding eastern counties, then in the twentieth century under the Martin-Byrd machine/organization, representing places equally regardless of their population size, favoring rural counties.
In Virginia gerrymandering continues by packing African-Americans into districts, diluting their influence among multiple districts where they live in integrated commercial communities. Several of these were redrawn by the Supreme Court for the 2016 Congressional elections, resulting in an additional Democratic Representative in the Virginia delegation.
Gerrymandering continues in partisan districts of both House of Delegates and State Senate, drawing tendrils of voter turnout unrelated to county or commercial communities. These are not contiguous and compact as required by the Virginia Constitution, and they have been challenged in Virginia courts.
Reform efforts are endorsed by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia League of Woman Voters and OneVirginia2021. The Republican majority Virginia State Senate has twice passed bi-partisan redistricting reform bills, but in both cases, they failed to advance onto the House floor for a vote.
A recent effort by Republicans in the General Assembly to vote for the Electoral College by gerrymandered districts, then two at large based on the majority of districts rather than the popular vote, was a return to the principle of voting on a mixed basis of population and places. That would not represent the people of Virginia as a District Plan and two at-large based on the largest popular vote, such as Maine and Nebraska have, which would give an outcome approximating the popular vote divisions in Virginia over the last few presidential elections.
Table of Contents
Introduction
- Prologue: Virginia the body politic in the mid-1600s, free white and black voters
- Conventions of 1774 – 1776, proclaiming the 1776 Constitution of a republic
- Convention of 1829-30, referendum approving limited suffrage expansion
- Convention of 1850, referendum approved white male suffrage, House reapportionment
- Secessionist Convention of 1861, constitution restricting franchise failed referendum
- Restored Government Convention of 1864, proclaiming the Constitution abolishing slavery
- Convention of 1868, referendum 1870 Constitution enfranchising whites & blacks
- Convention of 1902, proclaiming 1902 Constitution disenfranchising blacks & half the whites
- Epilogue: Constitutional Commission of 1927 centralizes power, Limited Convention of 1933 ends prohibition, that of 1945 enfranchises servicemen, that of 1956 allows state support of segregated academies, Constitutional Commission of 1969 aligns Virginia with U.S. Constitution
Conclusion
Bibliography
Authors of comprehensive surveys used for context are in bold.
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