Richmond, Virginia—The Supreme Court of Virginia, with the help of two Special Masters, has completed redistricting maps for the Virginia House of Delegates, the Senate of Virginia, and Congress. Public hearings will be held on December 15th and December 17th from 1:00-4:00 pm. 

“Because the Special Masters were able to work together successfully and produce maps ahead of schedule, the public will have time to comment on the maps which will give the Special Masters time to be able to make changes based on those comments.” Vanessa Clinton, Press Secretary at Progress Virginia said. “It is important, now more than ever before, for people to be able to define their own communities and those be reflected in the maps. We must ensure that every person, regardless of skin color, income level, or zip code, has an equal opportunity to select the representatives of their choice.”

Background: 

• Redistricting Special Masters released draft maps for Virginia state legislative and congressional districts
• Two of the three maps created by Sean P. Trende and Bernard N. Grofman, received an A in “partisan fairness” from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. The Virginia State Senate map received a score of B for “partisan fairness” from the project. 
• “We are pleased to present this Court with three draft maps for its review. As described in this Court’s Redistricting Appointment Order (“Redistricting Order”), we have proposed a single redistricting map for the Virginia House of Delegates, a single redistricting map for the Senate of Virginia, and a single redistricting map for Virginia’s representatives to the United States House of Representatives.” – Sean P. Trende and Bernard N. Grofman
• “We agreed on almost all issues initially, and the few issues on which we initially disagreed were resolved by amicable discussion. When drawing these maps, we have worked diligently to craft maps that comply with the statutory and constitutional provisions enumerated by this Court.” – Sean P. Trende and Bernard N. Grofman