Virginia Civics: How Your State Government Works

by bam

A practical, non-partisan guide to how the Commonwealth of Virginia governs itself, and how you take part where you live. You'll learn Virginia's Constitution of 1971; its General Assembly (the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World, dating to 1619) of 100 delegates and 40 senators; a genuinely unusual executive (the Governor is the ONLY governor in the nation who cannot serve two consecutive terms); a judiciary whose judges are ELECTED BY THE LEGISLATURE rather than by voters or the governor; Virginia's status as a Dillon's Rule state; and its distinctive local map of 95 counties PLUS 38 independent cities that belong to no county. It also covers elections (odd-year statewide races, no-excuse early voting) and the redistricting commission, flagging time-sensitive rules to confirm at elections.virginia.gov. Cited to Virginia's own official sources (law.lis.virginia.gov, elections.virginia.gov, vacourts.gov).