VIRGINIA BEACH — A public hearing on the city’s plans to formally adopt a ward-based election system will be held Tuesday at City Hall.
Deputy City Attorney Christopher Boynton warned the City Council in July that the city could face renewed litigation in federal court if it chooses not to stick with the 10 single-member districts used in the November 2022 election.
The city was sued over its previous at-large voting system, which allowed all voters across the city to elect at-large and district representatives. A federal judge deemed it illegal because it diluted minority voting power.
The court imposed a 10-1 system for Virginia Beach while appointing a special master to draw new voting district maps. The ward-based system, in which only residents of a district are allowed to vote for that representative, was implemented by the court for the 2022 elections.
The city appealed, and the case was declared moot after the General Assembly approved legislation that bans localities from allowing at-large voting for representatives in wards that have a ward-based resident requirement. But it was too late to change the city’s voting system for the November election.
Boynton told council members last month Virginia Beach could face the possibility of not having City Council elections in 2024 if didn’t act soon. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit remanded the case to the trial judge to receive amended challenges or claims by the plaintiffs, if they feel the city is moving down a path that is inconsistent with the Voting Rights Act, Boynton said. He warned that the judge believed only the 10-1 system with three minority opportunity districts, where minority voters are the majority, would comply with the Voting Rights Act.
The public hearing will be held during the City Council formal session, which begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Building 1 at the Municipal Center, 2401 Courthouse Drive.
A vote on the matter will likely take place later this month.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, [email protected]
