Fair Maps VA is a registered 501c4 nonprofit organization dedicated to the passage of the Virginia Redistricting Commission Amendment in November 2020. It is a campaign-specific initiative formed by the nonpartisan reform coalition OneVirginia2021 as of July 1, 2020.
OneVirginia2021’s existing nonprofit entities continue to function as they always have, including a 501c4 advocacy group and an independent 501c3 educational nonprofit, OneVirginia2021 Foundation.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Fair Maps VA is co-chaired by Democrat Bobby Vassar, a former subcommittee chief counsel for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and former Virginia Cabinet Official, and Republican Wyatt Durrette, a former legislator and candidate for Governor of Virginia.
A complete list of the Fair Maps VA Board of Directors is below:
Virginia’s redistricting process is profoundly broken, and voters finally have the opportunity to approve a remedy that would put citizens in charge of the conversation for the first time, favoring no party over another, while having all of the commission’s work being done in plain sight. Anyone that wants a fairer process to draw our district lines should be in full support of this historic amendment.
It’s important to let voters have a real choice when they go to the polls to elect their legislators and members of Congress. Allowing the politicians to draw their own maps takes that power away from the voters.
This Constitutional amendment would establish a bi-partisan, citizen-led commission to draw new districts. For the first time ever, citizens will have a seat at the table - and at public hearings. For the first time ever, map-drawing meetings will be held in the sunlight - out from behind closed doors. For the first time ever, protections for ethnic and racial minorities will be ensconced in the Constitution. It’s time for Fair Maps, Virginia!
We are at a historic juncture where the stars aligned along with uncertainty as to which party would win elections in 2019, combined with principled support from enough legislators that Virginia’s citizens now have the opportunity for what I believe competes for the most significant political reform for Virginia of my lifetime.
The Constitutional amendment to take the drawing of your legislative districts out of the shadows of backroom deal-making into the transparent light of an independent commission deserves the support of every Virginian. Do not be fooled by self-serving partisan opposition with promises that will not be kept. This is the citizens’ chance to create the districts in which their potential leaders must compete. This is how a nation “of, by and for the people” should be governed.
In our founding documents, the vision is clear; governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed. With this amendment, we can further this essential principle in our Commonwealth by ensuring fairness, equality, and transparency in how districts will be drawn. This is one long overdue giant leap towards our founding vision.
If you want bipartisan legislation, you need bipartisan districts. It’s that simple.
I believe that fair maps are a cornerstone of democracy. For too long, it’s been all too easy for legislators to pick their constituents when it should be the other way around. The Constitutional Amendment before the citizens of the Commonwealth provides a transparent and citizen-led process for drawing electoral district lines.
For decades, Virginia has been marred by a racially discriminatory, embarrassing and disruptive process for partisan gerrymandered state and federal legislative districts, by both parties, with little citizen input, even less transparency and, eventually, court-drawn districts.
This year, citizens can change this abysmal history by voting to approve the General Assembly-passed Constitutional Amendment that requires minority voting protections, a citizen-chaired process with an equal number of bipartisan legislators and citizens, and total transparency.
Partisan gerrymandering packs districts, specifically minority districts under the guise of seemingly promoting or supporting minority representation. But in actuality, it dilutes the power of minority voters, because we do not have the leverage to get legislation that truly helps the minority community. We are long overdue to right the wrongs of the past when it comes to drawing our electoral district lines.
Paid for by FairMapsVirginia
