VIRGINIA BEACH — In a 10-1 vote Tuesday, the City Council formally adopted a redistricting plan and authorized a ward-based election system, the same method that was used in the November 2022 elections.
Councilwoman Barbara Henley voted against it.
The city will next need to seek 2024 General Assembly approval for a charter change or propose a new state law to address the inconsistency between the new district maps and the city’s current charter.
The Virginia Beach School Board is elected by the same system as the City Council.
Virginia Beach used to have four members including the mayor who were elected at large. Those four could live anywhere in the city and were elected by residents across the city. The remaining seven members represented districts but were elected by the population at large.
In 2017, the city was sued over its previous at-large voting system, and in 2021, 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 10 new voting district maps.
The city appealed, and the case was declared moot after the General Assembly approved legislation that requires district representatives for the City Council and School Board only appear on ballots for the voters who reside within the bounds of the district.
The 10-1 system, with the mayor elected at-large, was used in 2022, but the City Council had not yet formally adopted it. Several speakers at Tuesday’s meeting questioned the validity of the 2022 elections citing that the current charter remains in effect.
Earlier this year, the city gathered public feedback on local elections through a survey. A majority of respondents wanted to keep the ward system.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, [email protected]
