June 25, 2021
To the Members of the Virginia Redistricting Commission,
At the June 7 meeting of the Virginia Redistricting Commission, it was suggested that the Commission maintain their biweekly meeting schedule but retain the option to cancel the meetings if there's no pressing business to discuss. This suggestion was made concrete when the June 21 Commission meeting was canceled. This decision was not publicized or explained - members of the public could only find out that the meeting had been canceled (and stop checking the website, waiting for an agenda to be posted) by emailed DLS staff directly.
The individuals and organizations who have co-signed this letter encourage the Commission, in the strongest possible terms, to continue meeting regularly. This process happens once every ten years and will affect Virginians for the next decade. As a brand new Commission, you all have been gifted several extra months to figure out how best to work with members of the public to create historically representative maps - please take advantage of that time. Even if there are no scheduled votes to be taken, these meetings are unique opportunities for citizens to engage with the process and provide comments and feedback to the Commission’s work.
To deny the public any available opportunity would be a disservice to the voters of Virginia, and would go against the spirit of transparency the constitutional amendment mandates. Even without new agenda items, we ask that the Commissioners treat these previously scheduled biweekly meetings as listening sessions. In the absence of the U.S. Census data, we feel this is the best use of the Commission’s time.
We look forward to the subcommittee meetings this week and the full Commission meeting on Tuesday, July 6, and continue to offer our support and our services to aid you in this momentous task.
Sincerely,
Liz White, Executive Director, OneVirginia2021
Luis Aguilar, Virginia Director, CASA
Suzanne Almeida, Redistricting and Representation Counsel, Common Cause
The Hon. Michael Futrell, President, National Black Nonpartisan Redistricting Organization
Da'Quan Marcell Love, Executive Director, Virginia State Conference NAACP
Matthew Scoble, Executive Director, Unite Virginia
Josh Stanfield, Executive Director, Activate Virginia
Phillip Thompson, Executive Director, National Black Nonpartisan Redistricting Organization
Deb Wake, President, League of Women Voters of Virginia