Are You Wondering About 10-1 Voter Referendum In Va. Beach?

By Ken Sutton
Special To The New Journal and Guide
VIRGINIA BEACH

Voters in Virginia Beach will be voting on a Voting District Referendum question this November 4th to confirm which system they prefer to use in voting for their elected officials.

In 2023 the current legal 10-1 voting system was upheld by United States District Court Judge Raymond Jackson, who ruled that the current 10-1 voting system was the only legal system for use in Virginia Beach.

The previous 7-3-1 At-Large system was ruled in violation of the 1965 Federal Voting Rights Act and unfairly restricted African-American and other minority representation on both the City Council and School Board.

From the city’s first elections in 1963 until 2013, there were only three African-American citizens elected to office during that fifty-year period. Upon adoption of the 10-1 voting system in 1923, four (4) African-American Virginia Beach residents were immediately elected to City Council.

The main difference in the two systems is that the former 7-3-1 Voting System dilutes the voting power of the individual citizen in choosing their city government representatives. In the 7-3-1 system, voting power can be concentrated in a voting block of three At-Large members, one single district member and the mayor, for a total of five votes in a system of 11 voting members.

You would only need one more vote to control the City Council. You can theoretically have all five of those council members living in the same geographical neighborhood, with other areas not being directly represented by a voting member on council.

The 10-1 system allows district members to vote separately for their own neighbors to serve on councils and school boards. The Referendum is basically a fight between the Power Brokers of the past to regain control of Virginia Beach.

There are very powerful forces at work in this Referendum. The Vote No side has accumulated funds exceeding $600,000, primarily from Oceanfront Real Estate Developers, who have benefitted tremendously in the past from the 7-3-1 voting system.

On the other side of the vote is a grassroots organization of community organizations supporting a VOTE YES on 10-1 Referendum, that form the VOTE YES on 10-1 Referendum Coalition. The Coalition includes organizations such as the Virginia Beach Branch of the NAACP, Virginia Beach Education Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity -Norfolk Virginia Beach Chapter, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity-Norfolk Virginia Beach Chapter, and the Clean Air Virginia Foundation.

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This is only small snapshot of the dynamics and politics involved in this issue. I am a supporter of the Vote Yes on 10-1 Referendum Coalition and I will be voting, “YES” on 10-1 in November.

Ken Sutton is a retired Naval Officer who lives in  District 1, Virginia Beach, Va.