Virginia, vote NO on Amendment 1.

A non-partisan, independent commission to redraw our voting maps would be great! Unfortunately, that is not what Amendment 1 achieves.

Election season is in full swing, and everyone is buzzing about the Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates that just passed. However, for Virginia in particular, the President and Vice President may not be the most impactful decision that voters will make on their ballots this year. In 2021, our state and Federal voting maps must be redrawn. The General Assembly decided to pass SJ 18, a proposed Constitutional amendment that takes map-drawing power away from the state legislature and gives it to an “independent” Commission. Now, we citizens will vote on SJ18 in the form of Amendment 1. This commission is billed by its proponents to end gerrymandering and partisanship in the redistricting process. This sounds good on the surface, but as we dig deeper, we realize how it fails to deliver on its promises.

Eight members of the commission are citizens, and the other eight will be lawmakers for a total of sixteen members. The eight lawmakers will be four Democrats and…