On April 21, Fairfax County schools will be closed for a Constitutional Amendment special election. The suggested amendment will allow the General Assembly to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts before 2031.
Currently, U.S. congressional district lines are redrawn every 10 years based on new census data. Within states, the majority party has the ability to draw and approve new maps.
States want to redistrict mid-decade in order to gain partisan advantage, otherwise known as gerrymandering.
“The Democrats want to have more Democratic representatives in the House and the Republicans want more Republican representatives in the House,” social studies teacher Joshua Henry said. “The Supreme Court has ruled that it is okay to partisan gerrymander. You can’t gerrymander based on race, but you can based on partisan identity because they’re making these decisions based on voting statistics, population demographics and voting histories.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, six states have completed redistricting mid-decade. On top of that, four states have proposed legislation to allow new congressional maps, one of these being Virginia.
“There has been a movement to do some mid-decade redistricting, or gerrymandering, and it is for the stated purpose of trying to gain partisan advantage,” Henry said. “This process started in Texas, which is controlled by the Texas state government, which is controlled by Republicans.
They were encouraged by President Trump to redraw—redistrict—as a way to try and increase the number of districts in Texas that would be Republican.”
People have the option to vote “yes” in favor of the General Assembly redistricting mid-decade, in time for the 2026 congressional election. In this case, the Virginia Redistricting Commission will regain control of the drawing of congressional maps in 2031.
Voting “no” leaves the redistricting with the Virginia Redistricting Commission once a decade.
Due to this special election, schools in FCPS will be closed on April 21 because they will serve as polling locations. Additionally, because of the added closure, elementary schools will no longer have the previously scheduled early release days on April 22 and April 29.
