On April 18, the Virginia legislature unanimously agreed to amend HB 1151 in accord with the wishes of Governor Robert McDonnell. As a result, petitions this year must be based on the new U.S. House districts. The bill says the old district boundaries are also valid, and the bill is now law. The problem is that the Governor influenced the legislature to change the effective date of the bill, from now, to next year, so it is no help this year.
The bill was written as emergency legislation to address a problem that would only be faced this year. Changing the effective date of the law essentially invalidates it altogether.
Unless the Virginia General Assembly passes a redistricting plan in 2021, following the 2020 census and in advance of the 2022 federal elections, it will have to pass another bill like this to ameliorate the uncertainties of the redistricting process that affect statewide and congressional candidates.
Of course, it’s also possible that, within the next decade, Virginia might completely revamp its ballot-access laws. Not likely, but possible.
I really don’t get why these idiots wasted paper essentially killing their own bill, maybe just to scratch McDonnell’s back so he’ll scratch theirs with less vetoes? They could have ignored his suggested amendments and the bill would still be law.