The statement below can be attributed to Mary Bauer, Executive Director, ACLU of Virginia:
"The ACLU of Virginia joins many other Virginia groups, including the League of Women Voters and the Virginia NAACP, in support of the call for a 2022 special election for Virginia’s House of Delegates. The ACLU of Virginia is a non-partisan organization, but we believe deeply in representative democracy. And that means that Virginians deserve a legislature that is representative of all Virginians. According to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project, under the old maps, a Northern Virginia district based in fast-growing Loudoun County now has a population of over 130,000, while other districts in Southside and Southwest Virginia have less than 70,000 people. The new maps rectify these issues and restore the principle of 'one person, one vote.'
Now that we have fair, non-partisan maps, we should have an election where legislators run for election in those new, more representative districts. Allowing delegates to continue to operate from politically gerrymandered maps undermines the most deeply held principles of our democracy.
We have said it again and again, and we won’t stop saying it: Let Virginia’s voters decide. It’s time for Virginia voters to select their Delegates in a fair race.”
