Virginia voters OK redistricting panel in ballot item question

Voters in the District, Maryland and Virginia were asked to decide Tuesday five major ballot items, from decriminalizing “magic” mushrooms to authorizing sports gambling.

In Virginia, voters approved constitutional amendments on redistricting and property tax exemptions for wounded veterans.

Virginians were asked if congressional and state legislative districts should be drawn by a newly created redistricting commission made up of state lawmakers and residents.

With 2,377 of 2,585 precincts reporting, 1,405,169 voted for the measure (66%) and 724,176 voted against it (34%), according to unofficial results by the Virginia Department of Elections.

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam reportedly supports the measure, but other Democrats have criticized it as a means to enshrine partisan gerrymandering.

The other amendment asked if veterans who are completely disabled from service-related injuries should be exempt from property taxes for the motor vehicle they own and use.

With 2,369 of 2,585 precincts reporting, 1,857,037 voted for the measure (86%) and 290,682 voted against it (14%), according to the elections agency.

In the District, residents overwhelmingly approved Initiative 81 (also known as the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020). It will serve as a nonbinding public request to the D.C. attorney general and U.S. attorney to end prosecution related to the plants. Specifically, the “noncommercial planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, possessing, and/or” using of the plants would no longer be illegal or a criminal offense.

With 144 of 144 precincts reporting, 123,003 voted for the initiative (76%) and 38,245 voted against it (24%), according to results by the D.C. Board of Elections.

The proposal was created by Melissa Lavasani, a D.C. government employee and mother in Ward 6. Miss Lavasani said she started the Campaign to Decriminalize Nature D.C. after entheogenic plants helped her battle postpartum depression.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has said she opposes the proposal because it was “not an organically created initiative and I don’t typically favor those.”

The measure could be overturned by the D.C. Council or the Congress, which must approve D.C. laws.

In Maryland, a proposed constitutional amendment on the state budget and a referendum on sports gambling were on the ballot.

The amendment question asked voters if the General Assembly should be allowed to increase, decrease or add items to the budget, so long as the changes do not exceed the governor’s proposal.

With 404 of 1,991 precincts reporting, 439,776 voted for the amendment (78%) and 121,517 voted against it (22%), according to preliminary results by the Maryland Board of Elections.

Maryland is the only state in which lawmakers are permitted only to make cuts to the budget. If passed, the amendment would go into effect in fiscal 2024.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has opposed the measure, saying the “state is facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis, [and] the last thing we should do is make it easier to recklessly spend more of your tax dollars,” according to a press release.

House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson, both Democrats, said the proposal would “ensure that a co-equal branch of government is truly co-equal.”

Delegate William Wivell, Washington Democrat, said he believes the amendment will pass, but it could “hurt the folks” it aims to help.”[They] end up with all the societal issues, with the gambling problems, the financial issues, and then you have to create programs to assist those folks,” Mr. Wivell told The Washington Times.

The referendum asked voters whether they approve authorizing sport and event betting “for the primary purpose of raising revenue for education.

“With 411 of 1,991 precincts reporting, 390,920 voted for the referendum (67%) and 190,428 voted against it (33%), according to the elections board.

The measure needs support from at least 60% of voters to be considered at the General Assembly’s next legislative session.

Mr. Hogan said he supports the measure because it would be “a critical revenue source for public education without raising taxes on families and businesses.”