Timeline

November 15, 2020: The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia (SCOVA) compiles a list of retired circuit court judges willing to serve on the Redistricting Selection Committee (Committee) and submits that list to the four members of the majority and minority leadership in the House of Delegates and the State Senate (GA Leadership).

November 20, 2020: GA Leadership each choose one judge from the list for appointment to the Committee and communicate their choice to the Chief Justice, who will promptly notify the judges selected. Within 3 days after being notified, the 4 selected judges shall select a fifth from the list who will serve as the Chair. Within 3 days of selecting the Chair, the Committee shall adopt an application process (with the assistance of the Division of Legislative Services, DLS) to recruit and screen applicants for the citizen commissioner positions, and shall begin advertising the process for citizen participation on the Commission.

UPDATE - The judges chosen for the Redistricting Selection Committee are:
The Hon. Pamela Baskervill (Chair - Petersburg)
The Hon. Joanne F. Alper (Arlington)
The Hon. William C. Andrews, III (Williamsburg)
The Hon. Larry B. Kirksey (Bristol)
The Hon. David Pugh (Newport News)

December 1, 2020: GA Leadership shall select the legislative members of the Commission from their own chambers.

UPDATE - The legislative members of the Commission are:
Del. Les Adams (R - Chatham)
Sen. George Barker (D - Fairfax)
Sen. Mamie Locke (D - Hampton)
Sen. Ryan MccDougle (R - Hanover)
Del. Delores McQuinn (D - Richmond)
Sen. Steve Newman (R - Lynchburg)
Del. Margaret Ransone (R - Westmoreland)
Del. Marcus Simon (D - Fairfax.)

The application period for citizen members begins on Nov. 30 and shall remain open for 4 weeks. Upon the close, DLS shall submit a list of eligible citizen applicants to GA Leadership.

January 1, 2021: GA Leadership shall each submit their list of at least 16 citizen member nominees to the Committee, who will being interviewing and otherwise screening those applicants for appointments to the Commission. DLS will provide the application papers for all such nominees to the Committee.

January 15, 2021: The Committee must choose 8 citizen member candidates (2 from each list submitted by GA Leadership) to serve on the Commission.

UPDATE - The citizen members of the Commission are:
James Abrenio (D - Fairfax)
Mackenzie Babichenko (R - Mechanicsville)
Jose A. Feliciano, Jr. (R - Fredericksburg)
Marvin W. Gilliam (R - Bristol)
Richard O. Harrell, III (R - South Boston)
Greta J. Harris (D - Richmond)
Brandon Hutchins (D - Virginia Beach)
Sean S. Kumar (D - Alexandria)

February 1, 2021: The first meeting of the Virginia Redistricting Commission shall be held by this date, where the Commission will elect a citizen member to be Chair and shall begin to organize itself to accomplish its charge.

The remaining deadlines are reliant on the receipt of the Census Data from the Federal Government. This cycle’s data is expected to be delayed due to COVID-19.

45 Days After Receipt of Census Data: Before this date, the Commission must hold at least 3 public hearings in different parts of the Commonwealth to receive input from the public. After those hearings, the Commission shall prepare proposed redistricting plans for the House of Delegates, State Senate, and Congressional districts, and publish those plans (along with all supporting data) on its website. Once these plans have been published and before they have been submitted to the General Assembly for approval, the Commission must hold at least 3 additional public hearings on the proposed plans.

At the conclusion of this period, the Commission shall submit its proposed House of Delegates and State Senate redistricting plans to the General Assembly for approval. (The Commission has 60 days to complete the plans for Congressional districts, related time frames are the same.)

15 Days After Submission of Plans to the GA: The GA must vote the plans up or down by this date. If the GA rejects any plan, the Commission shall submit a new plan within 14 days after the GA’s failure to adopt and the GA must vote on the resubmitted plan within 7 days of receipt. If the plan passes the GA, the process is completed.

If Commission Fails to Produce Plans or GA Fails to Adopt Plans: SCOVA shall become responsible for establishing district maps and must appoint two Special Masters to draw them. Within 7 days, each member of GA Leadership must submit to SCOVA a list of at least three nominees along with bio and resume. SCOVA then decides on one Special Master recommended by each party.

If you have further questions about the process or the eligibility requirements, email varedist@dls.virginia.gov.