RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the state’s 2011 redistricting process and found that 11 challenged state House and Senate districts are constitutionally valid. The high court issued its ruling Thursday in a lawsuit brought by OneVirginia2021, redistricting advocacy group that alleged lawmakers violated a state constitutional requirement that legislative districts be compact. The group argued that the current redistricting process focuses too heavily on protecting incumbents and helping political parties. Last year, a Richmond Circuit Court judge rejected the challenge brought by OneVIriginia2021. The state Supreme Court agreed with the judge’s finding that evidence presented at trial would “lead reasonable and objective people to differ” regarding the compactness of the districts and it was “fairly debatable” whether the districts violated the compactness requirement.
