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 used in November 2022.
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.
The council 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 Virginia Beach. The remaining seven members represented districts but also were elected by the population at large.
In 2017, the city was sued over its previous at-large voting system, and in December 2021, a federal judge deemed it illegal — finding it diluted minority voting power. The court imposed a ward based system for Virginia Beach, while appointing a special master to draw 10 new voting district maps. The so-called 10-1 system includes 10 districts — representatives must live in their district and only residents who live in the district can vote for their representative — and the mayor is elected at-large.
The city appealed, and on July 27, 2022, 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.
With candidates already qualified to be on the ballot and early voting set to begin within weeks, the 10-1 system 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.
It was the understanding of the city’s attorneys last election season that only the 10-1 system would be acceptable because the clock was ticking.
“We were told orally by the Virginia Attorney General’s office that it would not likely preclear any system other than the 10-1 system given the proximity to the election, but there was no written opinion sought or received,” Deputy City Attorney Christopher Boynton wrote in an email Wednesday.
He added that the General Assembly had adjourned its 2022 regular session months earlier, so there was no opportunity to pursue a charter change at that time.
“Again, though, a charter change was unnecessary for the 2022 election cycle because the charter was overridden by the U.S. District Court’s December 22, 2021 order requiring implementation of the 10-1 system,” Boynton wrote.
Any contests of an election must be filed in court within 30 days after an election. No timely challenge was filed, Boynton said.
Earlier this year, the city gathered public feedback on local elections through a survey. A majority of respondents wanted to keep the 10-1 ward system.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
