A circuit court judge in Virginia Beach voided the district-based local election system implemented by the federal courts in 2021.
Judge Randall Smith ruled the city acted illegally when it adopted an ordinance in 2023 to codify the 10-1 district system without a corresponding charter change.
The 10-district system was in effect for the 2022 and 2024 elections. The results of those elections stand based on the Smith’s ruling this week. The ruling didn’t doesn’t immediately offer any way to resolve the conflicting requirements.
Any city charter changes in Virginia must be approved by the General Assembly.
A change to enshrine Virginia Beach’s district system was approved by Virginia’s House of Delegates and Senate in 2024, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the bill.
An upcoming voter referendum authorized by the city council may help resolve the matter. Residents will vote in November on whether they want the 10-district system or restore three at-large council seats.
Del. Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach) opposed the charter change in the General Assembly.
“I just wanted the citizens of Virginia Beach to control their own destiny, like they had with previous referendums about any charter changes,” Knight told WHRO. “We're going to honor, or I will, and I think my colleagues will, also will honor the referendum.”
A 2023 poll showed 81% of residents supported the 10-1 system.
This is the second lawsuit from Virginia Beach residents trying to strike down the city’s voting system.
The current one, from a former councilman, a former Planning Commission member and two other residents, argued the city’s adoption of an ordinance in 2023 without a corresponding charter change authorized by the General Assembly overstepped the city’s authority. Youngkin cited the lawsuit as the reason he vetoed the bill that would have brought the charter in line with the system in place in May 2024.
The city formerly had a system where all 11 city council members were elected by everyone in the city. In 2017, a resident sued, saying that at-large voting system was illegal and diluted minority voting power.
In 2021, a federal judge agreed. A court said the city must adopt a district-based voting system, imposing the 10-district system where only voters within the district got a say in who represented them. The system also included one city-wide election for mayor.
Notable opposition to the district system has come from Bruce Thompson, the city’s biggest developer and an ally of Youngkin. He publicly pushed the city in 2024 to consider a system with seven districts and three at-large seats in addition to the mayor, a system the plaintiffs in the lawsuit also support.
