On Monday, Governor Ralph Northam signed a proclamation calling the General Assembly into a special session on August 30th to re-draw the voting districts for Virginia’s House of Delegates as ordered by Federal Court.
The court previously ordered lawmakers to come up with a new map by October 30th after ruling that lawmakers had illegally packed black voters into certain districts – falsely making surrounding key districts whiter (and more Republican).
On August 9th, a federal court issued a two-week deadline for a declaration by Virginia’s lawmakers that they would comply with that court order.
On Monday, House of Delegates’ Kirk Cox issued a statement that the House of Delegates will convene at noon on August 30th but will continue with its request for a stay for the October deadline and its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court – Northam called the special session to redefine the constitutional maps to “represent Virginians fairly.”