The county government of Pittsylvania county just announced today a redistricting process is now underway for its voting districts. This won’t impact this election, but the Board of Supervisors is now set to adopt a new redistricting plan by 12/21 and submit it to the Attorney General of Virginia by 12/31. A public hearing is set for 11/16.
In a press release today the county government stated, “As required by the Virginia Constitution, Pittsylvania County is currently undergoing the process of redrawing election districts. After a months-long process of developing plans and gathering public input, and once the plan is certified by the Virginia Attorney General, the newly drawn districts will go into effect in 2022.”
You can learn more about the redistricting process in much more detail and keep up with updates in the process at pittsylvaniacountyva.gov/redistricting.
The Virginia Constitution requires all localities that have elections by district to conduct redistricting every 10 years in the year ending in one. This timeline coincides with the ten-year census. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of the 2020 Census were not released until September, which was months later than they were originally scheduled to be. As a result of this delay and Pittsylvania County’s small staff, the decision was made to hire a company to complete the redistricting process. ARCBridge Consulting & Training was selected to complete the redistricting process for Pittsylvania County this year.
“Redistricting is a significant process that has an impact on many parts of our county, from school and election districts to polling precincts and locations.” said Dave Arnold, Assistant County Administrator. “With the strict guidelines governing the redistricting process and the tight timetable caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided that the best option to ensure a quality and fair redistricting process was to hire an outside firm.”
A resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors stipulates, as is required by federal and state laws, that election districts shall be as nearly equal in population as practicable, shall be compact and contiguous, shall have distinct boundaries, and existing boundary lines shall be maintained where possible.
After ARCBridge spends the next several months analyzing census data and population changes since the 2010 Census, three potential redistricting plans will be made available to the public in early November. These will be available both in paper versions as well as interactive online maps. Citizens will have the opportunity to share feedback, and a public hearing will also be held during the Board of Supervisors’ November 16 meeting. After hearing all citizen input and requesting any changes from ARCBridge, the Board of Supervisors will adopt one of the three plans. That plan will then be sent on to the Virginia Attorney General for certification.
