Two new plaintiffs joined an amended federal complaint about a Virginia Beach local voting system that may result from language in the city charter, seeking to retain a federally installed 10-district system that was successfully challenged in state court and faces an upcoming city referendum.
Latasha Holloway and Georgia Allen, who are Black, and the two new plaintiffs - Carlos Pagan, who is Latino, and Nicole Boehm, who is Filipino and Mexican-American - on Aug. 7 filed an amended federal complaint to prevent future use of a 7-3-1 local system that would mix seven district and four citywide seats for City Council and School Board elections.
The filing says a 7-3-1 system violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965 by denying minority voters the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. It also isn’t allowed under the Virginia Voting Rights Act, the suit says.
The new filing added Pagan and Boehm as part of its arguments on behalf of a “coalition” of minority voters. The city argued that minority “coalition” claims aren’t recognized under the Voting Rights Act, but U.S. District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson disagreed in the initial federal case.
Holloway, Allen, Pagan and Boehm want to preserve a system that’s fairer for all city voters, said Simone Leeper, senior legal counsel for the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, which represents the plaintiffs.
“Whether it be with this case or by showing up at the polls and voting for the referendum to keep the 10-1 system, this unified minority community in Virginia Beach is not going to go backwards,” Leeper told WHRO.
Allen, who’s been involved with the federal case since 2018, said the 10-1 system provides fairer representation and opportunities for regular citizens to seek office.
“It is smaller district sizes,” she said. “It’s less expensive for people to run so they don’t feel they have to sell their soul to represent people they feel connected to and an area they’re connected to.”
The 10-1 system, designed by a court-appointed expert as part of an earlier part of the federal matter, has been used since 2022.
Virginia Beach tried to codify the 10-1 in its charter, but it couldn’t get the necessary state approval. Earlier this year, a state judge found the city overstepped by implementing it without that approval. That decision made the system’s future unclear, though the judge held off on remedies until after the voter referendum this November.
City charter language reflects a 7-3-1 system due to the former “at-large” local system, in which voters living outside seven residency districts picked the representatives for those districts. However, that is no longer allowed under state law.
In November, city voters face an advisory referendum asking them to choose between the 10-1 and a “modified” 7-3-1 system. Proponents of the 7-3-1 say voters can pick five of 11 members of each body, rather than two of 11, as allowed by the 10-1. The mayor, elected citywide, is the 11th council member.
On Aug. 21, the city argued the plaintiffs are effectively challenging a system that hasn’t been — and may never be — used.
The city moved for Jackson to dismiss the matter. The filing says the city enacted the 10-1 system through a redistricting measure, though a “vigorous effort to assert its legal authority for its 10-1 plan proved unsuccessful” in state court.
The city argued a 7-3-1 system can’t be the subject of a complaint “in the abstract.”
“The Voting Rights Act and the Virginia Voting Rights Act have applications to specific plans, specific maps,” Deputy City Attorney Chris Boynton told WHRO.
Those things don’t exist, he said.