Supreme Court to review Virginia state voting districts

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review another case challenging the use of race in drawing voter districts in Virginia.

{mosads}The latest challenge, Golden Bethune-Hill v. the Virginia Board of Elections, centers on 12 districts for the Virginia House of Delegates. The plaintiffs argue those districts were illegally packed with African-Americans to make surrounding neighborhoods more favorable to Republicans.

The justices are now being asked to weigh on whether a lower court erred in holding that the districts were not a result of racial gerrymandering.

Last month, the court dismissed a Republican-led challenge to throw out a voter map ordered by a lower court after it found that lawmakers had illegally packed black voters into Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, now represented by Rep. Bobby Scott (D).  

A unanimous Supreme Court held that Rep. Rob Wittman and other Virginia Republicans, including Reps. Randy Forbes and David Brat, lacked standing to pursue their appeal because none of them could show that they were injured by the new race-neutral plan.