Virginia State Capitol Building (Photo: Craig Carper/VPM News)
A panel of retired judges chose eight Virginia citizens on Wednesday to make up the un-elected portion of the commonwealth’s new redistricting committee.
The committee was approved when voters approved an amendment to the state constitution in November, and is tasked with drawing new voting districts. It is made up of 16 people: The eight citizens selected today and eight lawmakers appointed by party leadership.
The panel of judges was headed by Pamela Baskervill, a retired Petersburg circuit court judge.
Before starting the selection process, she highlighted the state measures that guide their work, saying, “in making our selections, we are to ensure the citizen commissioners are, as a whole, representative of the racial, ethnic, geographic and gender diversity of the commonwealth.”