Latest news with #LinwoodBranch
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge voids VB City Council's vote that implemented 10-1 voting system
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A judge has ruled a 2023 vote taken by City Council to institute a 10-1 district election system is now void, but held off on dictating what system must be put into place to elect council and School Board members. Instead, state Circuit Court Judge Randall Smith, retired out of Chesapeake, stayed his ruling Monday until after a referendum on the voting system is held in November. Voters in the city will have the choice to either endorse continuing to use the 10-1 system that has been used in the 2022 and 2024 elections, or transition to a 7-3-1 system, spelled out in the City Charter. Either way, Smith's ruling made clear the authority to change the election system lies in the hands of the Virginia General Assembly. Former City Council member Linwood Branch, who led several plaintiffs in bringing the suit last year, was pleased with ruling. 'Every voting change we've ever had in our city, beginning with the merger in 1963, the citizens of Virginia Beach have determined by referendum their voting system,' Branch said. 'We broke with precedent this time, but I'm glad seven members of council are now going to get us back to having the citizens have that opportunity. It's their vote. It's no one else's.' The voting system governing Virginia's largest city has been debated for years. In Branch's suit, the plaintiffs alleged the city illegally eliminated three at-large seats expressly established under the City Charter when it passed its decennial redistricting measure in 2023. Virginia Beach was split into 10 separate districts of approximately 46,000 people. Each voter is only allowed to vote for the mayor and representative of the district they reside in under the 10-1 system. That's a far change from the city's longtime system. Traditionally, Virginia Beach races were conducted in what became known as a 'hybrid at-large' system. Seven of the members serving on the city council or school board had to live in certain parts of the city, but every voter could vote for not only every district member, but also three at-large members and the mayor — thereby, a 7-3-1 system. While a law passed by the General Assembly in 2021 abolished the use of the hybrid-at large system, 7-3-1 remains codified in the charter. Smith agreed with plaintiffs that only the General Assembly can change the charter. 'It's a pure legal case,' said Brandan Goodwin, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. 'And you saw today that the judge's ruling was properly correct, that there was no authority in those statutes to eliminate the at-large seats guaranteed to the citizens of Virginia Beach in the city charter. That's what our case is about and now, moving forward, the city has done the right thing and is pursuing this referendum to let the citizens have a voice.' However, the Virginia Beach City Attorney's office argued the 10-1 was the 'only legally viable system under both federal and state law' when the decennial redistricting needed to be passed. In 2021, United States District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that Virginia Beach's former 7-3-1 system 'denies Hispanics, African Americans and Asians equal access to the electoral and political process.' While a federal appeals court overturned Jackson's ruling, the Virginia Beach City Attorney deemed it too late to stop the use of the court-imposed 10-1 system for the 2022 City Council and School Board elections. Jackson dismissed the federal case after the city committed to efforts to have the General Assembly amend the City Charter for the 10-1 system. Proponents of the 10-1 system point to Virginia Beach City Council becoming the most 'diverse city council' in the history of the city following the 2022 election. They also point to 2023 data from University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center that found the 10-1 district voting system was supported by 81% of city residents, with a 95% confidence level. However, those in the business, tourism and agriculture communities have fought back. Branch, who owns the Days Inn at the Oceanfront, favors a new 7-3-1. 'I think every citizen has, has lost power,' Branch said. 'Would you join an HOA where you could only vote for two of 11 board members? That's what we have in Virginia Beach. You don't have the power to influence any decision and voting is accountability. … I look at our Virginia Aquarium. It's one of the jewels of our city. And yet it right now, it's unfunded. They have compromised aquarium tanks that are going to not work because nobody from other districts really cares. That's not how Virginia Beach is supposed to be, that you worry about one little district and not the whole city. More at-large representation will take care of citywide issues as well, which is important. We're not a little small town.' Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) vetoed a City Charter change last year because of Branch's lawsuit. Late last year, a majority of City Council members didn't support requesting a charter change, as the case was still ongoing. Smith made clear his ruling does not change the lawful elections under 10-1 of 2022 and 2024. 'He's not doing anything about that ruling until the public has a chance to speak in the referendum,' said Chris Boynton, a deputy city attorney for Virginia Beach. 'And at that point, he believes the case will likely resolve itself, either by 10-1 happening by virtue of the public support and perhaps General Assembly action, or 7-3-1 after the referendum. Then we'd have to deal with the federal and the state Voting Rights Act implications of that.' Branch said he would honor 'the will of the people' either way. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge voids Virginia Beach district-based election system, but not results
VIRGINIA BEACH — A Circuit Court judge ruled Monday that the district-based election system Virginia Beach imposed to comply with federal voting rights law is void. According to the ruling, that's because the General Assembly did not vote to pass corresponding legislation that would have officially changed the city's charter. Attorneys said Monday's summary judgement, means that the '10-1' system used in the past two local election cycles is not permitted unless and until the state legislature passes legislation that amends the city charter to that effect. However, the ruling applies only to future elections — the results of the previous two elections that used the 10-1 system are upheld. The next City Council elections are in the fall of 2026. Circuit Judge Randall D. Smith issued the ruling from the bench. Former council member Linwood Branch and other residents initially brought the suit last summer, saying the city had illegally removed the three at-large seats. 'We're very pleased with today's ruling,' said Brandan Goodwin, the attorney representing Branch and the other plaintiffs. 'We think the judge got it absolutely right when he found that City Council did not have the authority to abolish those at-large seats.' The City Council adopted an ordinance in 2023 instituting the '10-1' election system in conjunction with the city's 10-year redistricting measure, which meant that Virginia Beach residents across 10 districts vote for a City Council member only in the district they live in, plus the mayor. But the city's charter provides for a 7-3-1 system, where residents vote for a council member in one of seven districts where they reside, plus three at-large members and the mayor. The General Assembly passed legislation in 2021 that requires, in localities with district-based election residency requirements, for members to be elected by voters who live in the district and not by voters from the locality at large. But subsequent attempts to change the city's charter have failed. The city's position is that there are not redistricting maps to be drawn that result in seven districts and comply with the state and federal Voting Rights Act, and Virginia Beach will continue to defend the 10-1 system until voters say otherwise. 'The current reality is that all the council members are determined duly elected, so this only has impact on the future,' said Chris Boynton, Virginia Beach's deputy city attorney. '(The ruling) is a disappointment certainly, but it doesn't change the immediate reality, which is everybody's looking to the referendum to see where this goes next.' In the meantime, Virginia Beach voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on how their elections should be conducted in November. A referendum on the ballot will pose the question: 'Should the method of city council elections set forth in the Virginia Beach City Charter be changed from a modified 7-3-1 system to a 10-1 system?' If the answer is yes, the Virginia Beach City Council can ask the state legislature — again — to pass legislation that would modify the charter to reflect the change. Because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, the city cannot by itself amend the charter. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has historically vetoed similar legislation, citing the ongoing litigation. The voting system shake up came after a federal judge ruled in 2021 that the city's at-large voting system violated the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act because it 'denies Hispanics, African Americans and Asians equal access to the electoral and political process.' With the referendum on the horizon, that judge has indicated he could reopen the case. Kate Seltzer, (757)713-7881
