OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY PREVAIL:  “Judges authorize posting of proposed congressional maps on state website.”  Earlier this evening the court hearing Virginia’s Congressional redistricting lawsuit granted the State Board of Elections’ motion to have all maps and supporting materials published for public review (over the objections of Hillary Clinton’s lawyers).  The court also extended the deadline for briefs from persons filing proposals, from October 2 to October 7, and indicated it will allow critiques of the existing proposals to be submitted by the general public as well.  We applaud the court for making the right decision here.  There’s no need to rush things, or to limit the feedback available to the special master.
While we at TBE are happy to provide to the public the maps to which we have access, publication here is no substitute for publication on the website of the Division of Legislative services, which is uniquely positioned to host these plans with specialized software allowing detailed examination of each proposal. Â We’ll post a link when the maps go live.
