Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) signed two bills yesterday approving the redistricting plans of the Virginia House of Delegates and state Senate.
Gilmore spokeswoman Yooree Oh said the governor was very pleased with the bills.
He had seven days to sign the bills, but Gilmore sent them on without any amendments, Oh said.
Del. Mitchell Van Yahres (D-Charlottesville) said the bills now will be sent to the Federal Justice Department for review. They are likely to be approved.
"It's a done deal," Van Yahres said.
However, many Democrats, including Van Yahres, said they were less than enthusiastic about the new districts.
"Redistricting always brings out the worst in people," Del. Earl V. Dickinson (D-Louisa) said.
Dickinson said he may lose many of his core voters in Fluvanna and Spotsylvania in exchange for the more conservative Short Pump voters.
Redistricting "is a normal sequence of events" that occurs every 10 years based on the census data, Van Yahres added.
However, both Democrats and Republicans agree that it is also highly politicized.
Among the complaints with the most recent redistricting effort was the lack of public input. Furthermore, "the Democrats are concerned about the fact that minority citizens were packed into certain districts" so that their opportunities to influence the vote are diminished, said Sen. Emily Couric (D-Charlottesville).
Earlier in the redistricting process, some Democrats alleged that Republicans were trying to replace female members of the General Assembly. Sen. Leslie L. Byrne (D-Fairfax) was the main senator leading the assault. Byrne's district was redrawn, throwing her into competition with fellow female Democrat Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple of Arlington.
Republicans responded to criticism by recalling previous instances in which Democrats controlled the redistricting process.
"We believe we did a better job than the Democrats did 10 years ago," said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem).
The Democrats left only 11 of 47 districts together 10 years ago, but the Republican-controlled General Assembly left 16 of 39 together this time around, Griffith said.
If the Justice Department approves the bills, the Democrats have one final option, Dickinson said.
They could petition the state courts to rule against the bill or to delay a ruling until after the November elections.
"In 1987 because the court cases weren't finalized, we ran in the old districts," Dickinson said.
If this were to occur, the General Assembly would have to redraw the districts once again during the following session, he added.
The Justice Department is expected to take roughly two months making its decision.
The elections will not take place until November 6, but the nominating deadline for the elections is August 21.
"We have to get a package together and get it to the Justice Department so we can have candidates ready to run," Griffith said. "We are going to have a lot of candidates this year"
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