Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was a busy guy Tuesday.
In addition to sitting in on arguments over his lawsuit against the federal health care overhaul, he also announced that he has submitted new maps for the state’s 140 legislative districts to the Justice Department for approval.
Virginia is one of a handful of mostly southern states that must pre-clear its redistricting plans with the Justice Department because of a history of racial discrimination at the polls. He also filed a pre-clearance suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to help facilitate a quick review.
“It is important that the new district lines be submitted and reviewed promptly, so this fall’s General Assembly elections will proceed as scheduled,” said Cuccinelli.
Gov. Bob McDonnell vetoed the General Assembly’s first crack at redrawing the lines, saying that the Democratic Senate’s plan did not properly preserve communities of interest and could run afoul of the law.
The House and Senate later passed revised maps, which McDonnell quickly signed. Primaries for the 2011 statehouse elections are scheduled for Aug. 23.
Lawmakers must still return to Richmond to approve new congressional distrctis that reflect population changes based on 2010 Census figures, but with elections not scheduled until fall of 2012 there’s less urgency on those.
