Issue Position: Improving Our Democratic Process

Issue Position

Giving citizens access to the ballot, open information about how government is working, and preventing distortions of power and influence-peddling is essential to preserving our democracy and giving people an effective voice. One area we need to reform is the gerrymandering of districts to benefit incumbents and parties in power. We started the process of gerrymandering reform by voting for the first stage of an independent redistricting commission amendment in 2019, but that commission needs additional stages and implementing legislation which we must follow through with, including banning the use of partisan data in the commission process.

Voter registration must be made more accessible, reform and extend voting times and precinct efficiency, and make absentee and early voting easier. Many populations with burdens on their time and ability to get to physical polling places, from college students to the elderly to those with high-travel jobs, are badly punished by Virginia's current inflexible systems of voting.

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