VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — City and state politics intersected Tuesday afternoon, as leaders with the Virginia Beach NAACP expressed concerns over recent lawmaker votes in Richmond related to the city's transition to a more district-based 10-1 system.
"City council has already voted to go forward with a charter change, codifying 10-1. Let's get the politics out," said Gary McCollum, vice president of the Virginia Beach NAACP and social activism organizer with Due the Right Things.
This August, Virginia Beach City Council members voted to formally adopt district voting, a change from the traditional voting system in the city where voters could potentially influence the outcomes for district representatives they don't live in themselves. A 10-1 system means residents can only vote for the candidates in their district.
In Richmond, Virginia Beach Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler is carrying a bill to that would in writing, allow the City of Virginia Beach to formally change the city's charter to allow for the elections change.
State Sen. Aaron Rouse is carrying the Senate version of the bill, which has already unanimously passed the State Senate. However, while the measure did pass through a House committee stage late last week, Virginia Beach Delegate Barry Knight and Delegate Anne Tata voted "nay" on the motion.
“We did not elect them to go to Richmond to go against what we voted for. What 81 percent of the city voted for. We elect them to go forward with the demands we have, and the demand was go there and codify this voting system and change our city charter," said Georgia Allen, who is one of the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit against the city that helped institute the 10-1 system for Virginia Beach.
This comes off the heels of a separate lawsuit filed by former mayoral candidate Richard Kowalewitch and Donald Edwards, who accuse the city government of violating the U.S. Constitution, the Virginia Constitution and its city charter.
"There are 300,000 voters and 400,000 people who live here. This should have gone out to the public for a vote," Kowalewitch said following the NAACP's press conference Tuesday.
"We believe the lawsuit is entirely without legal or factual merit," a city spokesperson said. "The 2022 City Council election was administered using the 10-1 single-member district system that was ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. A federal court order takes legal precedence over any state or local laws, including a City’s Charter."
City Councilwoman, Barbara Henley, was the only city council member to vote against the motion last year. In a phone call, Henley told 13News Now she voted against district voting because she believed the decision should be left to a referendum.
Tuesday, McCollum said their belief was that the lawsuit is casting doubt into a system that produced an equitable election.
“We believe that’s part of the whole strategy, to confuse, obfuscate and cause doubt for a system that’s worked for the system," he said.