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By SCOTT McCAFFREY q T, Arundel Newspapers Staff Writer _ t With election season barely over, legislators have already turned to the next political hot po.... tato: legislative redistricting, i, Early next year, the General Assembly will ^, attempt to redistrict both houses of the state legislature as well as the Commonwealth’s congres■ sional districts. “Redistricting is fundamentally an exercise in raw political power,” said State Sen. Joseph mi Gartlan, D-Mount Vernon. Sen. Gartlan should know. As chairman of the mighty Senate Privileges and Elections Com, . mittee, he will be in charge of the redistricting effort.
At a League of Women Voters-sponsored forum Nov. 10 at Fairfax High School, legislators — and civic activists alike said new technology and new direction could help avoid the debacle that was the 1981 redistricting. It took a gubernatorial veto, nine special Assembly sessions, 20 lawsuits, intervention by the U.S. Justice Department, action by federal courts and a record three legislative elections in three years before redistricting was complete following • - the 1980 census. “It was not one of Virginia’s finer moments,” said Thomas Morris, a political scientist at the 11' University of Richmond and one of the state’s re’ ‘ districting experts. The General Assembly will attempt to avoid the pitfalls of previous redistricting efforts, but ' must complete its work quickly to hold legislative ',J elections as scheduled next November. Sen. Gartlan announced Saturday that he ' *had already agreed to push back legislative prir maries and elections from their usual early-sunimer slots to Sept. 3. The delay will give his * committee and its House of Delegates counterpart time to complete a redistricting plan. “We will get the census data in early March, and start work as the General Assembly winds up its regular session,” Sen. Gartlan said. “We’ll then come back in special session to approve the legislative redistricting plan, and pray we can meet the schedule. After that, we’ll tackle con*-• gressional redistricting.” ‘Minority-safe’ districts The most likely topic for controversy and litigation next year will be “minority-safe districts,” M the creation of legislative districts with a majority of black voters. “Whether the General Assembly will bite the ,, bullet and provide more minority-safe seats has yet to be seen . . . if not, we are virtually certain to be sued,” Sen. Gartlan said. Redistricting in 1990 will take place under
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