VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia NAACP, the Virginia Beach Interdenominational Ministers Conference and social activist organization Due the Right Things have called for the city’s 10-1 district voting system to remain in place.
The 10-1 voting system allows voters to elect councilmembers based on the district they live in instead of across the whole city — as was previously the case.
The changes were approved by the council in August by a 10-1 vote. The original, at-large system was ruled illegal by a federal judge in 2021 .
Such changes to the way a city operates have to be approved by the state legislature. Attendees of the press conference worried that opposition to the city’s charter change, which has already been introduced in the General Assembly , could be blocked by the very delegates who represent the area.
During a Tuesday press conference, Rev. Gary McCollum of the VBIMC said that the greatest benefit that the new system had provided was that it took “monied interests” out of the electoral process.