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Virginia Map Thrown Out
Virginia’s Supreme Court on Friday overturned a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting ballot measure, ruling in a 4-3 decision that the Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when referring the measure to the ballot.
“In a 4-3 ruling, the Virginia Supreme Court said the Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements”
The court said Virginia will need to use its congressional map from 2021 instead, after voters narrowly approved the amendment on April 21.
ABC News reported that Virginia voters approved the ballot measure in an election last month, while the BBC said the court’s action left the results of the April 21 vote meaningless.
NBC4 Washington said Democrats filed a motion late Friday afternoon asking the state supreme court to pause its ruling from taking effect while they appeal for an emergency hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Appeals and Political Fallout
Democrats said they would appeal, with NBC4 Washington reporting that House Speaker Don Scott and Attorney General Jay Jones led the effort to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the majority opinion, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote that the legislature submitted the proposed constitutional amendment to voters “in an unprecedented manner,” and NBC4 Washington said the court found the violation “irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”
President Donald Trump celebrated the ruling, writing on social media, “Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia,” and the BBC said the decision was a win for Republicans in the nationwide redistricting scramble.
The Hill reported that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “No matter what it takes, House Democrats will win in November so we can help rescue this nation from the extremism being unleashed by Donald Trump and Republicans,” as Democrats scrambled after the whiplash.
What’s at Risk Next
The ruling immediately eliminated four House seats that Democrats expected to flip, according to The Hill, and it also intensified the party’s effort to counteract Republican redistricting pushes in red states around the country.
“The decision immediately eliminates four House seats that were expected to flip to the Democrats’ side”
NPR said the court ordered that the state must use the same congressional district map in the upcoming election as it used in 2022 and 2024, after finding procedural errors in how the question was placed on the ballot.
NPR also reported that the redistricting could have helped Democrats win four Republican-held House seats, and that the Virginia ruling would now put the GOP far ahead as Republicans pursued additional seats across the South.
ABC News said Virginia plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, while the Fox 5 DC account quoted Attorney General Jay Jones warning that the decision “silences the voices of the millions of Virginians who cast their ballots in every corner of the Commonwealth.”
