Former President Barack Obama He touts Democratic efforts to redraw congressional lines in Virginia, the nation’s newest frontier The redistricting battle is nationwide Before this year Midterm elections.
The announcement Thursday comes a day after the state Supreme Court allowed the redistricting issue to go before voters in the April 21 election. Early voting begins on Friday.
This is the second time Obama has approved a Democratic effort asking voters to temporarily set aside independent redistricting in favor of partisan maps as a way to counter President Donald Trump’s push to gerrymander congressional boundaries in Republican-controlled states. California voters approved a similar measure last fall Counterpoint to an unusual mid-session redistricting for Republicans It started in Texas.
In a video shared with The Associated Press ahead of its release, Obama asked Virginians for support Voter referendum on redrawn maps. He said it would ensure “your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states.”
“This amendment gives you the ability to level the playing field in the midterm elections this fall,” Obama says in the video posted by Virginians for Fair Elections. “Voters will have the final say on what the maps look like.”
In February, Virginia Democrats released a new congressional map aimed at giving their party four additional seats. The Democratic-led Legislature passed the proposed map, and Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the document into law.
The map does not take effect unless it has the support of voters and the state Supreme Court.
Obama continues to point out that this measure is temporary, and the measure has also been put before voters in California. He notes that after the next census in 2030, “Virginia will return to a system that allows a bipartisan redistricting commission to redraw maps.”
The situation in Virginia has been evolving rapidly, and there are no guarantees that the new map will take effect this year even if voters approve it.
Wednesday ruling from Supreme Court of Virginia This was the second time the new map was scheduled to go before voters while judges review legal challenges to the effort. The court has yet to rule on whether the mid-decade redistricting plan and voter referendum are legal, suggesting the April vote could be futile if upheld. Lower court ruling Obstruction of effort.
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia sought to portray their redistricting plan as a response to Trump’s push for Republican states to redraw their maps in an attempt to preserve the GOP majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans describe it as a way for northern Virginia liberals to control congressional districts in the rest of the state.
Virginia currently Represented in the US House of Representatives By six Democrats and five Republicans running in the districts Imposed by the court After a bipartisan legislative committee Failed to agree on the map After the 2020 census.
Redistricting has developed into a signature issue for Obama.
He has drawn attention to the issue since leaving office in 2017 and has helped raise money for the Democratic National Redistricting Committee and its affiliates, one of which Lawsuits filed and supported In several states, the regions drawn by the Republican Party. This group is headed by Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s attorney general.
It was Obama Vocal supporter Of last year’s Democratic redistricting ballot measure in California and appeared in ads supporting Proposition 50, which The US Supreme Court upheld last month.
Speaking at a fundraiser for the National Development and Reform Commission at the time, Obama said partisan gerrymandering was not his “preference.” But he added that if Democrats don’t respond effectively, the White House and Republican-controlled state governments across the country won’t stop, because they don’t seem to believe in the idea of an inclusive, expansive democracy.
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Associated Press writer Olivia Diaz in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.