There were two Constitutional Amendment questions for the Commonwealth of Virginia on the ballot Tuesday, both of which passed easily.
Amendment 1 focused on how election districts in Virginia are drawn. The General Assembly and the Governor had been responsible for drawing new election districts, but that has now changed. The amendment that passed the responsibility of drawing district lines transitions from state lawmakers to a bipartisan commission that will include residents.
Virginia residents voted in favor of the amendment by about two-thirds. In the City of Alexandria, residents (not including absentee ballots, which were significant), close to 59 percent of voters were in favor of the amendment. In Fairfax County, residents voted more than 55 percent in favor of the amendment.
Updated results by locality are available here.
The other amendment seemed less controversial, asking whether service-disabled veterans should be exempted from certain state and local taxes.
Statewide, more than 80 percent of voters approved of the referendum. In the City of Alexandria, more than 79 percent voted in favor of this amendment. In Fairfax County, more than 80 percent of voters were in favor.
Updated results by locality are available here.
Here’s more information about each amendment:
Amendment 1: Currently, the General Assembly and the Governor are responsible for drawing new election districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, the state Senate, and the Virginia House of Delegates. The amendment asks if this responsibility should be changed to a bipartisan commission that includes residents.
"Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to establish a redistricting commission, consisting of eight members of the General Assembly and eight citizens of the Commonwealth, that is responsible for drawing the congressional and state legislative districts that will be subsequently voted on, but not changed by, the General Assembly and enacted without the Governor's involvement and to give the responsibility of drawing districts to the Supreme Court of Virginia if the redistricting commission fails to draw districts or the General Assembly fails to enact districts by certain deadlines?"
Amendment 2: The second amendment questions asks whether service-disabled veterans should be exempted from certain state and local taxes.
The question asks: "Should an automobile or pickup truck that is owned and used primarily by or for a veteran of the United States armed forces or the Virginia National Guard who has a one hundred percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability be free from state and local taxation?"