Virginia redistricting: The role of Klan images and Obama quotes

HAMPTON, Va. — Nearly everyone in the sanctuary at Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Temple raised a hand when Gaylene Kanoyton asked who had seen “the mailers.”

The primarily Black audience at a town hall this week knew what she was referring to — ads using images of Klansmen in white hoods to warn against voting for Virginia’s redistricting amendment and others falsely suggesting that former president Barack Obama and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) want them to vote “no” on redrawing the state’s political map to favor Democrats.