Judges set timeline for new Virginia legislative map

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A potential new Virginia legislative map will go public in early December.

Federal judges have ordered a special expert hired to help redraw some of the state’s state legislative districts to submit a map by Dec. 7. Other groups can submit their proposed maps before then as well.

A federal court ruled this summer that lawmakers illegally packed black voters into 11 districts and ordered lawmakers to draw a new map by the end of October, but Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and Republican legislative leaders have said they’re unlikely to reach a deal.

The court appointed Bernard Grofman, an economics and political science professor at the University of California, Irvine, as the special expert last week. Grofman was picked by judges in 2015 to help redraw the state’s congressional districts.