Delegate Marcia Price was joined by voting rights advocates to discuss HB1256, proposed legislation to create an independent Virginia redistricting commission. An independent commission to handle the 2021 redistricting is critically important to ensure voters can choose their elected officials, not the other way around. For 400 years, Black people and people of color in Virginia have been systematically marginalized, silenced, and told to wait their turn. HB1256 proactively addresses this legacy, as well as recent litigation in Virginia over racial discrimination in redistricting, by establishing proactive, affirmative protections for communities of color and communities of interest. The legislation also prioritizes public input and transparency to ensure voters have a real say in defining their own communities and political districts and ensures that one party is not able to block non-partisan maps from moving forward.