On February 19, a subcommittee of the Virginia House Privileges and Elections Committee defeated SB 840 by 4-3. The bill provided that when U.S. House and state legislative districts are drawn, no district should be drawn to help any political party or incumbent legislator. Addresses of incumbent legislators were not to be included in any data base concerned with districting, nor could any data about an area’s voting history be included.
The bill had passed the State Senate on February 2 by a unanimous vote. See this story. The picture above the story appears to be a salamander, the animal that lent its name to “gerrymander.”
As Maxwell Smart used to say, “Missed it by that much.”
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V. — No need to worry about any data machinations.
I just don’t think we’ll ever find a way to take the politics out of the process, even with non-partisan people running the show.