By Kevin Miller

Archives Reprint

    RICHMOND - Virginians will vote in November whether to address the constitutional confusion that led to Northern Virginia residents' choosing who would complete the term of a retiring New River Valley state senator.

    The ballot question, which received final approval from the General Assembly this week, would essentially clarify when redrawn legislative districts take effect and how to fill a vacancy that occurs before the effective date.

    The problem came to light after the 2001 redistricting session, when the Republican-controlled legislature moved the 39th District, which had stretched from Montgomery County to the North Carolina border, to Northern Virginia.

    States redraw legislative boundary lines every 10 years to comply with a federal requirement that all legislative districts be roughly equal in size according to population. In Virginia, the process is decidedly partisan, as the majority party tries to create districts that will bolster its numbers.

    Lawmakers relocated the 39th District because Northern Virginia had experienced rapid population growth during the previous decade and required another representative, while many parts of Southwest Virginia shrank in population or grew at a much slower rate than Northern Virginia did. The old 39th District was then divided among several other Southwest Virginia districts.

    Things became complicated a year later when the 39th's longtime senator, Shawsville Democrat Madison Marye , decided to retire from the Senate a year early. That raised the question of who would vote to complete Marye's term: the people in his old district or the residents of the new 39th?

    Operating under a strict reading of Virginia's constitution, the Board of Elections held the vote in Northern Virginia. That led to a situation whereby the old 39th's residents had not voted for anyone in the state Senate.

    If approved by voters in November, the referendum would clarify that new districts will not be used until the general election held immediately before the end of the current lawmaker's term. In the case of a vacancy, voters in the old district would elect the person to fill the remainder of the term.

    Legislation proposing the constitutional amendment was sponsored by Sen. Jay O'Brien , the Fairfax County Republican who was elected to complete Marye's term in the 39th District.

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