Virginia Beach's race-based voting districts are now in the crosshairs.
By Victoria Manning
Democrats across the nation created voting maps shoving black voters into racially apportioned districts. Forced segregation was wrong at the water fountain and it's equally wrong at the ballot box. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) just ruled race-based voting districts unconstitutional—impacting state and local voting maps across the nation including Virginia Beach, VA.
The Louisiana v. Callais case began when a judge ordered the state of Louisiana to redraw its voting maps to specifically include a majority-minority district based on race. A group of voters then challenged that new district in court as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. It ultimately ended up on the high court's docket.
SCOTUS ruled in Callais that creating voting districts based on race is an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander." The court held that the Voting Rights Act that guarantees a person's right to vote not be denied because of race still holds, but the drawing of districts must focus on the "enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment's prohibition on intentional racial discrimination." They also determined that states can still draw districts based on nonracial factors, including "to achieve partisan advantage."
One interesting highlight made by the majority ruling is the "capabilities of computers in drawing districts," seeming to acknowledge the ability for technology to easily craft fair maps. Redistricting current unconstitutional racially segregated districts should be a simple task by utilizing modern technology.
Justice Alito wrote a very clear opinion for the majority, saying, "allowing race to play any part in government decision making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context."
Drafting voting maps based on race is clearly unconstitutional and the court finally put an end to this practice of segregation.
Virginia Beach's Majority-Minority Districts Should be Redrawn
Not only does the high court decision impact congressional races in Louisiana and other states like Florida, but also local governments that have unconstitutional racially gerrymandered districts.
In 2025 Restoration News reported that a judge in Virginia Beach, VA ordered local election districts to be redrawn after a lawsuit against the city alleged the voting system was racist against minorities. The judge required the city to create three "minority opportunity districts" based on race. In 2022, the Virginia Beach City Council obeyed the judge's order and implemented three race-based districts that still remain—Districts 4, 7, and 10.
SCOTUS pointed out that Louisiana created majority-minority voting districts constituting an "express acknowledgement that race played a role in the drawing of the district lines." That's exactly what happened in Virginia Beach.
The citizens of Virginia Beach should petition their elected city council leaders to end racial gerrymandering in the city. The next local election comes around in November, and three of the city's ten districts are likely unconstitutional as currently drawn.
From Louisiana's congressional maps to Virginia Beach's local election districts, the era of racial gerrymandering must end. Every voter deserves a fairly drawn district—not one engineered based on the color of their skin. With three likely unconstitutional districts still on the books, now is the time for citizens to demand an end to voter segregation in Virginia Beach.
Republished with permission from Restoration News.
