Whether that happens or not, anti-gerrymandering advocates say the drawn-out legal fight over racial gerrymandering is a good example of why the state needs a different system for the next redistricting in 2021. No matter what happens, the lines in place for this November will change again for the 2021 House races.

So what’s the lawsuit about?

A group of Virginia voters filed the federal suit near the end of 2014 with the help of Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias. The plaintiffs argued that lawmakers violated their rights in 2011 by using predetermined racial targets to draw black voters, who historically vote Democratic, into certain districts, diluting their political influence elsewhere and bolstering Republican dominance in the House.

The lawsuit centered on a dozen districts in the Richmond, Petersburg and Hampton Roads areas. The key issue was House leaders’ use of a 55 percent black voting age population threshold for the districts in question. The plaintiffs argued that by elevating race above other redistricting criteria, House leaders had violated their constitutional rights by allowing skin color to drive decisions based on a one-size-fits-all racial quota.