At first blush, it may seem arcane and somewhat inconsequential. But for those who care about ensuring that their votes count and that they count equally, it’s not.

The process of redistricting is underway right now in Richmond, where lines are being drawn to determine the state’s election districts for the House of Representatives, Senate of Virginia and House of Delegates.

Conducted every 10 years following the U.S. Census, redistricting is a process that affects the electoral process on the federal, state and local levels. At the top of that list, changes in population revealed by the Census require comparable shifts in the apportionment of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

Virginia’s number of U.S. Representatives didn’t change this time around, remaining at 11. Some states gained seats (North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Montana, Oregon and two for Texas), while others lost representation (California, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and...