Virginia's congressional districts

The state legislature had long delayed redistricting, leading to outsize influence by rural districts and under-representation of urban areas.

[9] The Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting for the Commonwealth of Virginia made its report on April 1, 2011.

About 150 students on sixteen teams from thirteen schools submitted plans for legislative and U.S. congressional districts.

The "Division 1" maps conformed to the Governor's Executive Order, and did not address electoral competition or representational fairness.

Districts are to be established on the basis of population, in conformance with federal and state laws and court cases, including those addressing racial fairness.

[15][16][17][18][19] Gloria Personhuballah and James Farkas claimed that Virginia's 3rd congressional district violated the Voting Rights Act by packing black voters into the district for the political purpose of making surrounding areas better for Republican candidates.

In this case, the twisting non-contiguous 3rd district hopped the James River in several places and divided multiple locality boundaries, resulting in 89% majorities for black Representative Bobby Scott (D) while surrounding Republican incumbents enjoyed majorities of 16–24%.