Virginia's highest court has invalidated a redistricting referendum that voters narrowly approved last month, overturning what would have been a dramatic shift in the state's congressional makeup and blocking one of the nation's most expensive and closely watched redistricting battles.
The decision wipes away months of legal warfare and hundreds of millions in spending. Voters had approved the measure, which would have redrawn congressional districts to give Democrats a commanding 10-1 advantage in the state's House delegation, up from the current 6-5 Democratic edge. The state alone spent $5.2 million holding the special election, while outside groups poured nearly $100 million into the campaign.
Central to the court's ruling was a constitutional question over what counts as the "next general election" under Virginia law. State amendments must pass through two General Assembly sessions: one before a House election occurs and another after. Republicans argued that lawmakers improperly advanced the amendment after early voting had already begun. Democrats countered that "election" refers to a single day in November, a position some justices questioned during oral arguments.
The ruling effectively halts Democratic efforts to counter Republican-led states that have redrawn districts to gain GOP seats in an evenly divided U.S. House. Republicans, who filed repeated lawsuits to stop the referendum, branded it extreme, illegal, and hyperpartisan.
State courts striking down referendum results are uncommon but not unprecedented in Virginia. In 1958, the Supreme Court overturned an Arlington election after determining that voters had approved an unconstitutional law in 1956.
Democrats have not ruled out appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. Federal courts have previously waded into Virginia election disputes, most recently in 2024 when then-Attorney General Jason Miyares secured a last-minute ruling allowing the state to resume a voter purge program days before Election Day.
Author James Rodriguez: "This decision shields Republicans from a decade of congressional disadvantage, but leaves unanswered whether Virginia voters can actually control their own maps."
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