Joshua Huffman

@LPNational A free people wouldn't register to vote by political party.

Are we witnessing the downfall of the Republican and Democratic parties? 👀

@PinellasLP What about those of us who voted for Chase Oliver?

👀

@BobbyScott4VA3 You don't protect democracy by gerrymandering the state to rig the elections in favor of the Democratic Party.

Delegate Cliff Hayes says it’s time to get to the polls to protect democracy. Whether you have time to vote early or plan to vote on April 21st, make a plan and take a friend with you to vote yes. #VirginiaVoteYES

@mkauai @amitylee13 Greetings from Wellington! It looks as if a typhoon is coming our way this weekend.

@VaJoshua @amitylee13 I sailed there from Tahiti, fell in love and stayed a couple years off/on. First pic is coming into Auckland Harbor, second is on the upper slopes of Whakapapa on Mount Ruapehu.

31 for me. HBU?

It is absurd to split Rockingham County into three congressional districts. If you haven't voted no in Virginia's redistricting referendum, I encourage you to do so today at your local voter registrar.

@VaNewsVanguard If I were to draw the lines, I'd say do not split any city or county more than it absolutely needs to be. Back in 2009, I worked on a campaign in Newport News with split precincts. That was a tremendous headache and should never happen.

That's one provision that SHOULD be revised, but in the current climate, that would not happen, sadly. I wonder if a neutral AI exists that would just apportion based on population, communities of interest, & compactness? But omit the partisan voting patterns from the programming. Let the Va. Supreme Court have the final word...

⁉️DID YOU KNOW that Va.'s Democrat U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine was AGAINST partisan gerrymandering before he was FOR it this year & donated $100,000 to the "Vote YES" to Va. gerrymandering campaign?

@VaNewsVanguard I'm living in New Zealand right now and they have an independent redistricting commission here which is part of their electoral commission. They hire professionals, not party loyalists and it seems to work well for them.

@VaNewsVanguard I tried to apply to be on the commission but as I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat, I was told I couldn't do it.

@VaJoshua I understand what you mean. Numerous appointees -- even if citizens -- had STRONG partisan preferences.

@VaNewsVanguard I tried my best to defeat the 2020 redistricting commission because I didn't think it would solve the problem. I want an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission. Instead we created one controlled by the Republican and Democratic Party bosses.

It's an incredibly strong temptation, so I think that's why Virginia lawmakers in both parties finally came together in 2019 & voted to authorize a constitutional amendment for the Redistricting Commission. It was a truce of sorts. But it almost did not pass the second time the next year (as required) when some of them reconsidered it. There's that temptation again. Ultimately, nearly 67% of voters approved it in 2020, so the commission was created. But it was a closer call legislatively than it should have been.

@WrenWilliamsVA Thank you.

@VaJoshua Ohhh, you mean running as a minority party on the ballot, not just independent. Like a marked minor party indicator like Green Party, libertarian party, etc. Gotcha. Gotcha. I will look into it. May not fly but worth considering.

Nearly 2.1 million Virginians voted Republican in the 2024 elections — nearly half of Virginia. A 10-to-1 gerrymander strips meaningful representation from roughly 1.9 million voters. That’s not “fair” or “representative.” That doesn’t “give every community a meaningful voice” and “every individual a genuine opportunity.” It disenfranchises 2 million people. How do you “preserve a system” with an unconstitutional amendment that repeals that same system? The only thing congressional district maps should be “responsive” to is a lawful census without illegal immigrants being counted, every ten years — not made up “existential threats” by libs rigging elections so they can run for congress. (how many does that make now running in new imaginary districts?) And don’t come at me with the whole “bUt tRuMp, TeXAs, NorTh cAroLina” trash argument. Independent redistricting commissions are the way to go. Just like we passed in Virginia in 2020 with 67% of the vote. You know, the ones that Obama and Eric Holder supported then but not now? Draw fair maps then see who wins. Don’t stack the deck and call it “leveling the playing field.” (Or I guess it’s “don’t guess, vote yes” now, amiright?) And honestly, it doesn’t really sound very “temporary” now either. #affordability

@WrenWilliamsVA But no party, other than GOP and Dems can use the primary. Any other party needs to get 10% of the statewide vote in order to qualify which no party has done in my lifetime. The rules are designed to prevent competition.

I like the petition signatures so you get some type of support/buy in from your district. We can’t do the party nomination methods anymore because the law changed on absent voting (Idk the specifics). Anyway, it’s state run primaries right now, signatures required to qualify for it.

@WrenWilliamsVA Depending on their method of nomination, they can be exempted. We ought to do away with petition signatures as we don't have enough choices on the ballot in most elections. When I ran for Virginia Senate, I was the first minor party candidate for my hometown since the 1970s.

@VaJoshua Major party candidates in Virginia are also required to collect petition signatures — 125 for a House of Delegates race under Va. Code § 24.2-521. I’ve collected thousands for myself and other Republicans.

@WrenWilliamsVA What we need is a new, independent, nonpartisan commission, like they have in other countries, with no elected officials involved or party bosses controlling the process.

@VaJoshua Either is better than this unconstitutional referendum!

@WrenWilliamsVA The Democrats are trying to return to the old ways of redistricting where those in power got to reinforce their position. The 2020 commission is a failure and is destined to be a failure because both the Democrats and Republicans have a veto in the process.

@beachmamax2 So much of what people are saying about the gerrymandering effort is a flat out lie and yet because it is coming from elected officials, some people will believe the lies.

So them REPEATEDLY telling Virginians that this would be temporary, was a flat out lie.

@ReallyAmerican1 You don't put "power in the hands of the people" by having the Democratically controlled General Assembly drawing maps to intentionally gerrymander the state to elect their fellow Democrat politicians. The dishonesty in this referendum is staggering.

FRIENDS: Can we please get 1,000 replies using #StopTrumpVoteYesVA to remind Virginians that April 21 is a critical vote on redistricting, a true game changer that puts power in the hands of the people.

Potentially troubling news for folks on the North Island. rnz.co.nz/news/national/…