RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by a redistricting advocacy group challenging a judge’s decision upholding 11 state House and Senate districts. The court on Tuesday granted a petition filed by the advocacy group OneVirginia2021, which claims that during the 2011 redistricting process, lawmakers violated the requirement that election districts must be compact. Richmond Circuit Court Judge W. Reilly Marchant ruled in March that the districts are constitutional. OneVirginia2021 wants the court to force lawmakers to give a priority to requirements like compactness when drawing legislative district lines. The group argues that the current redistricting process focuses too heavily on protecting incumbents and helping political parties. Republican House Speaker William Howell has previously said lawmakers were prepared to defend the map again if the case was appealed.
