Constitutional amendment; Virginia Citizens Redistricting Commission, established.

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); apportionment;criteria for legislative and congressional districts; Virginia CitizensRedistricting Commission. Provides for the establishment of the Virginia CitizensRedistricting Commission (the Commission), a 10-member commission responsiblefor establishing legislative and congressional districts following a decennialcensus. A selection committee consisting of five retired judges of a circuitcourt in Virginia, selected by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, theminority leader in the House of Delegates, and the majority and minorityleaders in the Senate from a list compiled by the Chief Justice of the SupremeCourt of Virginia, is tasked with adopting a process by which registeredVirginia voters may apply to serve on the Commission and selecting from theapplicants a list of 22 candidates. The amendment requires five of thecandidates to be voters who affiliate with the political party receiving the highestnumber of votes for Governor at the immediately preceding gubernatorialelection, five candidates to be voters who affiliate with the political partyreceiving the next highest number of votes for Governor at the immediatelypreceding gubernatorial election, and 12 candidates to be voters who do notaffiliate with either of those political parties. The Speaker of the House ofDelegates, the minority leader in the House of Delegates, and the majority andminority leaders in the Senate then strike names from the list until a finallist of 10 Commission members is reached consisting of three members whoaffiliate with the political party receiving the highest number of votes forGovernor at the immediately preceding gubernatorial election, three members whoaffiliate with the political party receiving the next highest number of votesfor Governor at the immediately preceding gubernatorial election, and fourmembers who do not affiliate with either of those political parties. Finalapproval or adoption of a redistricting plan requires an affirmative vote ofseven of the 10 Commission members, including at least one vote from each ofthe political parties represented. The amendment also contains criteria towhich the Commission is required to adhere when drawing the legislative andcongressional districts, including a criterion of fairness, and imposes certainrequirements on the Commission's activities to ensure accessibility by thepublic.