The Virginia Supreme Court has picked Sean P. Trende and Bernard N. Grofman to serve as “special masters” who will redraw voting districts throughout the state.

The decision comes after weeks of controversy concerning the failure of the new Virginia Redistricting Commission to select the two people to redraw the maps. Consequently, the decision was turned over to the Virginia Supreme Court, which rejected all three Republican nominees and one from the Democratic side.

After the parties came up with new candidates this week, the court made its choice on Friday.

Trende, nominated by Republicans, is a senior elections analyst for RealClearPolitics and is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

He is a lawyer and journalist with degrees from Yale and Duke Universities. The Washington Times has called him a “premier numbers cruncher.” A frequent guest on Fox News, CNN Radio and PBS’s “All Things Considered,” he is the author of the book “Lost Majority.” He practiced law for eight years at the  Kirkland & Ellis law firm in Chicago and the former Hunton & Williams firm in Richmond.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republicans in Virginia have two extra days to nominate new redistricting special masters to help the state’s Supreme Court redraw legislative and Congressional districts.

The court extended the deadline Monday for submitting new candidates’ names until 5 p.m. Wednesday, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. However, Republicans’ request for a conference call with the court was denied.

Under a constitutional amendment approved by voters last year, redrawing districts fell to the court when the Virginia Redistricting Commission ended in partisan deadlock.

On Friday, the court rejected all three Republican special master nominees and one unidentified Democratic candidate. The parties were given until 5 p.m. Monday to submit new names.

Later Friday, Republican leaders requested the extension and the rejection of all three Democratic nominees. Monday’s order from the court didn’t reference that request to reject the Democratic nominees.

The Virginia State Supreme Court has rejected three “special master” candidates nominated by Republicans to help redraw Virginia’s legislative lines.

The nominees, the justices said in an order this morning, will serve as officers of the court in a “quasi-judicial capacity” and therefore “must be neutral and must not act as advocates or representatives of any political party.”

The court ordered the Republicans to come up with three new candidates by Monday. It also dropped a Democratic candidate, who was not named, because of his stated concerns about working with another map-drawer as the process requires, and told party members they also had until Monday to come up with another nominee.

The decision came after outcry from Democrats that the Republican nominees had obvious conflicts of interest. “It troubles me that the Republicans would even try this,” says Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, who had served on the redistricting commission but resigned this week.

The court’s decision is the latest turn as the state struggles with a new regime to draw new legislative boundaries for state and federal races next year.  A bipartisan 16-member commission was created by a Constitutional amendment to move the process away from the secretive traditional method employed by the majority party in the General Assembly.

Concerned about the election?

The Virginia Department of Elections has launched a new website, “Vote With Confidence” that offers residents information on when and where they can vote; key dates and deadlines for voting; how Virginia’s election process is conducted; and facts about the checks and balances used to combat any voting irregularities and ensure the accuracy of election outcomes.

The website is at www.elections.virginia.gov/voter-ed/

The site also includes a section called “Mythbusters,” offering facts versus fiction to address concerns voters may have on cybersecurity, voter fraud and other issues.

For example: “A record number of deceased voters cast ballots in 2020.”

That’s a myth, according to the website. The Virginia Department of Elections uses one of the “premier list maintenance programs in the country, including routine removal of deceased individuals” from voter rolls, according to the website. The site then offers a link to a report the public can access on voter roll maintenance efforts.

“While the voting process is something most Virginians pay attention to a few days every year, the system that ensures a trusted election outcome never stops,” said Christopher Piper, commission of the Virginia Department of Elections. “That is the job of more than 133 certified registrars and their staff who follow 470

pages of election law. They work year-round to ensure free, fair and transparent elections with the help of some 15,000 volunteers. They know how rigorous and meticulous our election process is.

“Now this website exists so the public can share that same confidence in casting their vote and in our election outcomes,” he stated.

Voters can use the new website or call the department at (800) 552-9745 with any questions about the Nov. 2 election or the process.

Bipartisan agreement created the Virginia Redistricting Commission, but political disagreement along party lines is causing its failure, leaving some wondering how to successfully chart unbiased electoral maps.
The commission is a first-time endeavor for the state, and proceedings have been about as bumpy as a maiden voyage can get.
The commission is tasked with determining on a map how to evenly divide voters into Virginia’s political regions, for both state and national government. The idea is to avoid a map that is gerrymandered, or drawn in such a way that districts are manipulated for political gain, but this is not an ideal redistricting setup, according to experts and commission members alike.

There’s been talk among the commission about switching Roanoke from the 6th Congressional District — which includes Lynchburg and extends north to the Shenandoah Valley — to the 9th District, comprising all of Southwest Virginia. But those discussions have taken a back seat as the conversation turns instead toward procedural disagreement.

The 16-member commission has been stalled by split 8-8 votes. Following another set of split votes at a meeting Wednesday morning, members of the commission, including Democrat Co-Chair Greta Harris, criticized how the group is organized, and its inability to find agreement.

“I would say we tried and it was a first for the commonwealth of Virginia, but this isn’t working,” Harris said, adding that the bureaucracy and a partisan structure won out.