For the first time ever, citizens will play a role in drawing new lines for the General Assembly and Congress.
And the deadline for people to apply is fast approaching.
Monday, December 28th, is the final deadline for citizens to get their applications for the new redistricting commission into the Division of Legislative Services. According to data from the Virginia Public Access Project, applicants so far tend to be wealthy white people from Northern Virginia.
"I don't think anybody is surprised by the lack of diversity that we're seeing in the applicant pool," according to Irene Shin, executive director at the Virginia Civic Engagement Table. "We're trying to figure out how do we ensure that we are encouraging as many diverse applicants whether it's racially diverse, gender-wise or geographically to apply and represent their communities on this commission."
The applicant files also show a lack of geographic diversity, with no applicants from Southwest Virginia. Brian Cannon at Fair Maps Virginia says he expects the final pool will include people to represent Southwest Virginia. "I know for a fact that there are people who have applied from Southwest Virginia since the last reporting so I'm excited about that and they have a really good shot at getting picked because there aren't that many people there so it's a good chance to toss your hat into the ring and you'll have a higher probability than average of getting picked."
Because population has been shrinking in Southwest, that's an area that is likely to see larger districts in the state Senate and Congress and potentially lose seats in the House of Delegates.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
