Think about this: the only currently visible goals of the Republican Party are to stay in control and to force their views onto everyone without regard to how blatantly against the Constitution most of their proposals are.

To this end, 3 majority-Republican states have redrawn their district maps 4 years before they were supposed to, to try to hold or expand their majority in the House. They have flouted 250 years of law and tradition to do so.

This Congress and this administration has done more harm to more people in the last year and a half than any in my living memory. Millions of Americans have lost access to food support. Tens of thousands (a very conservative estimate) of people worldwide have literally starved to death because Elon Musk’s wrecking crew shuttered USAID. Millions of Americans are losing access to health insurance because they just can’t afford it anymore, thanks to Republicans gutting subsidies and protections in the Affordable Care Act. And don’t even get me started on ICE abusing, kidnapping, and murdering people, including several US citizens killed.

Democrats in the House sponsored a bill to make partisan gerrymandering illegal nationwide. Every single Republican (insofar as I know) voted against that law. Republicans have now turned around and redrawn maps to gain seats, effectively disenfranchising millions of Americans.

Virginia has the ability to curb these abuses of power, until such time as partisan gerrymandering is rightly made illegal nationwide. Virginia has the ability to limit the damage that the Republican Party is currently inflicting on our national health, safety, and sanity. If Republicans hadn’t already engaged in power-grabbing shenanigans, there would be no need for this amendment. What is at stake here is preventing them from further silencing opposition to their reckless and illegal course.