Signs are seen during the Virginia redistricting referendum on April 21 in Fairfax, Va.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
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Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
The Supreme Court of Virginia on Friday struck down the congressional redistricting approved by voters in April. The ruling is a major setback for Democrats’ attempt to counter the pro-GOP reshuffling of voting maps led by President Trump.
Commonwealth voters last month approved — by a 52% to 48% margin — a constitutional amendment to allow redistricting. But responding to a lawsuit brought by Republicans, the Virginia high court found that the Democratic-led legislature made procedural errors in how it placed the question on the ballot.
The majority opinion of the state Supreme Court found that the legislature violated the multistep process for putting constitutional amendments on the ballot and that the “constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”
“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the majority wrote. It ordered that the state must use the same congressional district map in the upcoming election as it used in 2022 and 2024.
Republicans shoot ahead in redistricting battle
The redistricting could have helped Democrats win four Republican-held House seats. That, combined with five seats tilted toward Democrats in California and one in Utah, made 10 seats.
But the Virginia ruling will now put the GOP far ahead. Republicans currently have a lead of up to eight seats, and are poised to pick up additional seats across the South. Republicans already hold the U.S. House by a few more seats than Democrats.
Florida Republicans redistricted in that state in April. Then, after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened voting rights for minority communities last week, Republicans in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana began redistricting in their states. Tennessee approved a new map aimed at flipping one Democratic seat Thursday.
Usually, states redistrict at the start of the decade when the census count comes in. But Trump prompted a mid-decade redistricting race to try to keep Republican control of the House this November.
The court said the amendment process violated the Virginia Constitution
The Virginia Constitution required districts to be drawn by a bipartisan commission, but the amendment approved by voters temporarily granted the legislature the power to redistrict.
To place an amendment on the ballot in Virginia, the legislature is required to vote on it twice in separate special sessions with an election in between. Lawyers for the Republicans argued that the first vote was in a special session that had been called for other topics long before. And the court, with the justices split four to three, said not enough time had passed between the first vote and the “intervening” election a few days later.
The Democrats’ lawyers argued that the legislature sets its procedures without court review, and that procedural errors shouldn’t cancel the will of the voters in an election.
“I am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling,” Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in a statement. “But my focus as Governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we — the voters — will have the final say.”
They also argued that lawmakers didn’t hold the legislative vote in time to post notification of the amendment on courthouse doors, as required by a 1902 law, 90 days before the next election.
The Democrats’ lawyers argued that the 1902 law had been repealed and was out of date. They also argued that the legislature sets its procedures without court review, and that procedural errors shouldn’t cancel the will of the voters in an election.
Republicans cheered the ruling Friday.
“Democrats just learned that when you try to rig elections, you lose,” Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said in a statement. “Today, the Virginia Supreme Court sided with the rule of law and struck down Democrats’ unconstitutional maps.”
Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement that “four unelected judges decided to cast aside the will of the voters.”
“This is a setback that sends a terrible message to Americans – the powerful and elite will do everything they can to silence you,” she said. “House Democrats will not let this happen. Our democracy was founded on the belief that the people have the final say. In November, they will, and they’ll power Democrats to the House majority.”
