Mike Clancy, chairman of the 10th District Republican Committee, was recently featured in the Richmond Times-Dispatch as a guest commentator, sharing his perspective on Virginia’s redistricting referendum. You can read the full piece below.
“I have not yet begun to fight!” That was the immortal retort of Captain John Paul Jones in response to a request to surrender from the British as he and his crew engaged in a desperate battle with a British frigate during the American Revolution. Today, that is the posture for disenfranchised Republican, Independent and rural voters in Virginia following yesterday’s vote on the redistricting referendum.
Yes, the radical left Democrats have prevailed on the narrowest of margins in the vote on their sham of a referendum that, as characterized by the Washington Post, presented the amendment to the voters in the most “brazenly dishonest way imaginable.”
Now we fight on because we are confident in the rule of law. It is time for the Virginia Supreme Court to go to work on the pending cases challenging the constitutionality of the redistricting referendum.
First, the Democrats’ procedural handling of the amendment violated both the Virginia Constitution’s amendment process and the General Assembly’s own rules.
Second, the Court must address the “brazenly dishonest” ballot language. Referendum language must be straightforward and neutral. To include misleading language that the amendment is necessary to “restore fairness” and is only “temporary” (it would impact at least the next six years of Congressional elections) certainly is not neutral. Given the very tight voting results, it is reasonable to conclude that the flawed language impacted voters.
Finally, even if the Democrats prevail on the procedural handling and wording of the amendment, the proposed districts themselves violate the Virginia Constitution. Electoral districts are required to be “composed of contiguous and compact territory.” Clearly, the proposed districts – many of which span over a hundred miles, split communities and resemble creatures like lobsters, snakes, and hammerhead sharks – are anything but contiguous and compact.
So, like Captain John Paul Jones, we fight on; and like Captain Jones in 1779 we will be victorious. This political abomination of a constitutional amendment will ultimately be defeated; and the rule of law, justice, and election fairness will prevail.