Redistricting

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Pittsylvania County completed the process of redrawing lines for local election districts and precincts and establishing polling places in 2021. This redistricting process is required to be completed every ten years. The Board of Supervisors adopted Redistricting Plan A, which, out of the three proposed options, most closely resembled the previous district lines.

About Redistricting

Redistricting is the process of redrawing lines for local election districts and precincts and establishing polling places. In other words, the redistricting process is the recalibration of the election districts in Pittsylvania County to ensure that each has approximately equal population – and thus the elected officials represent approximately the same number of constituents. This process is based upon the most up to date population and demographic data from the United States Census Bureau.

Each electoral district should have a roughly equal population, must be compact and contiguous, and must be drawn using the most up-to-date census data. There are many requirements that must be considered, and the Board of Supervisors also passed a redistricting resolution spelling out the criteria during its August, 2021 meeting.

The redistricting process is important to ensure that each district yields roughly equal weight in terms of population. Based on the County’s prison-adjusted population of 60,170, each district's optimum population is 8,569 residents. No district should deviate by more than 5% and there cannot be a total maximum deviation of 10%. The 2020 Census rendered Pittsylvania County’s previous districts untenable, as the Banister District deviated by -11.3%, or 975 residents, and the Westover District by 7.4%, or 638 residents – meaning that the total deviation was more than 18%.

It is important to note that the Board of Supervisors is ultimately responsible for redrawing the local election districts, whereas the Virginia Redistricting Commission oversees redistricting for congressional and state election districts.

The Redistricting Process

In early September of 2021, the Board of Supervisors selected ARCBridge Consulting & Training, a reputable redistricting company that provides similar services to localities across the country, to utilize data from the 2020 Census to develop several redistricting plans. These plans were presented clearly to the public in a variety of ways. The Board of Supervisors hosted a public hearing during its November 16 meeting. In December, the Board will consider approving a plan, which would then be sent to the Attorney General's Office for certification.

Despite the swift timeline, Pittsylvania County leaders provided a transparent and fair redistricting process. By hiring an outside firm, Pittsylvania County ensured that no undue influence could factor into the redrawing of district lines. ARCBridge worked with county staff now to develop a detailed timeline and comprehensive public relations plan to ensure that every interested resident can view proposed plans and provide feedback.

Why Pittsylvania County is Completing Redistricting Now

The Virginia Constitution requires that all localities that have elections by district must conduct redistricting every 10 years in the year ending in one. This timeline coincides with the ten-year census. Pittsylvania County was required to have the new election districts submitted to the Attorney General’s Office by Dec 31, 2021 for certification. These new election districts will remain in effect for the next ten years.

You can read this 2021 local redistricting guide from the Virginia Department of Legislative Services to learn more about the redistricting process.

FAQs

Expand/Contract Questions and Answers

Did the redistricting process affect school districts?
The reapportionment or redistricting of the County’s local election districts cover the board of supervisors as well as the school board. However, school attendance zones or districts which are delineated to determine which locations attend public elementary, middle, or high schools were not updated as part of this redistricting project.

The County is split up into four school districts - Dan River, Tunstall, Chatham, and Gretna - for middle and high school students. There are also 10 elementary school districts. The County has seven Magisterial (or election) districts: Dan River, Westover, Tunstall, Chatham-Blairs, Banister, Callands-Gretna, and Staunton River. The redistricting process is solely to recalibrate the election districts and has no impact on school district lines. A property may have ended up in a different election district beginning in 2022 but remained in the same school district.
How do we know the districts are fair?
There are a wide variety of state and federal laws surrounding the redistricting process, election districts, and polling precincts that ensured that each district is fair. For instance, these are all legal requirements that Pittsylvania County committed to follow with a resolution approved during an August 2021 Board of Supervisors meeting:
- Election districts shall be “as nearly equal in population as practicable.”
- Election district populations shall not exceed five percent (5%) less or five percent (5 %) more than the ideal district population.
- Election districts shall be compact and contiguous, with due regard to natural features and accessibility of voting places.
- Election district boundaries shall preserve communities of interest, to the maximum extent possible. A community of interest means a neighborhood or any geographically defined group of people living in an area who share similar social, cultural, and economic interests.
- Election district boundaries shall maintain existing boundary lines, where possible, if existing locations can be reasonably accommodated.
- Election district boundaries shall recognize incumbency of both the Board and the School Board, to the maximum extent permissible under law and consistent with the other criteria, so that existing incumbent office holders remain in separate districts.
The Board of Supervisors hiring an outside firm to complete the process is another reason that citizens can trust the fairness of the process. ARCBridge developed three different redistricting plans, which citizens had ample time to review and provide feedback on. The Board of Supervisors chose the best of those three plans.
Why was ARCBridge Consulting & Training selected to create new districts?
Pittsylvania County staff seriously considered trying to complete the redistricting process in house, as had happened in 2010 and 2000. However, with the tight timeline and limited GIS staff, leaders decided to select an outside firm. ARCBridge Consulting & Training was selected due to their previous experience, price, and the speed at which it can complete the process.

Some of the things that ARCBridge committed to include:
- Analyzing 2020 Census data to examine how the current districts are balanced.
- Developing three possible redistricting plans, which will be available to the public both in hard copy form and in an interactive online map.
- Helping arrange public hearings and outreach events to ensure citizens can be involved.
For all of these services, Pittsylvania County paid ARCBridge $72,055. You can view the ARCBridge proposal.
What was different about the 2021 redistricting process?
Pittsylvania County, like all other Virginia localities that have elections based on districts, was required to have new districts submitted to the Attorney General for Certification by December 31, 2021. Before those plans could be submitted to the Attorney General, redistricting plans must be proposed and the public and the Board of Supervisors are given a chance to provide input. The deadline in 2021 was the same as always, but much of the data to support redistricting didn't become available until mid-August, with the full raw data and redistricting toolkit not becoming available until the middle of September. The Census Bureau had difficulty completing the census on a normal schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In previous years, Pittsylvania County staff would develop the redistricting plans once the updated Census data was released. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that data was being provided much later than normal, meaning that Pittsylvania County staff could not reasonably complete the process under the same deadline. That's why an outside firm was hired to develop the redistricting plans.
What does prison adjusted population mean and how does that affect Pittsylvania County?
Per our redistricting consultant, ARCBridge, while the state mandated prison adjusted population totals be used instead of the total population to determine the population for each new district as part of the 2021 redistricting process, the VA Division of Legislative Services did not provide population by race data at the Census Block level for the state’s prison population or for the prison-adjusted population. This means that the total County population and districts were based on prison-adjusted populations, but the racial demographics of each district do not use the prison-adjusted population, which leads to some uncertainty in the numbers. However, this is the data that the State has required Pittsylvania County to use.