(AURN News) — A Virginia Supreme Court ruling handed down this morning could set back Black political representation for years.
The state’s highest court struck down a voter-approved redistricting referendum that would have redrawn Virginia’s 11 congressional districts, maps that advocates say were designed to strengthen the voices of Black and minority communities across the commonwealth.
Four justices overturned a referendum approved by more than three million Virginians just weeks ago.
The court cited a procedural issue, ruling that lawmakers began the amendment process after early voting had already started last fall.
But for many Black Virginians, the ruling carried a far more personal impact.
The existing maps — the ones that will now stay in place — were drawn under a system critics have long argued packs and cracks Black voters, scattering their political power across districts where their votes carry less influence.
The ruling comes after the U.S. Supreme Court two weeks ago weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a decision critics say gutted the law, and Republican-led states across the South reopened their own maps, threatening Black representation across the country.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
The post Virginia Court Ruling Raises Concerns About Black Political Representation appeared first on American Urban Radio Networks.
