Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Voter-Approved Congressional Redistricting Amendment

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a congressional redistricting amendment that voters had approved on April 21. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that the Democratic-controlled legislature did not follow the state constitution’s requirement of approval in two legislative sessions separated by an intervening election.

The ruling affirms a lower court decision from Tazewell County Circuit Court.

Justice D. ” The first legislative approval occurred in October while early voting was already underway in the 2025 general election, with more than 1.3 million ballots — roughly 40 percent of the total — already cast before the second approval in January.

A separate bill passed in February outlined the new districts contingent on voter approval of the amendment.

Attorney Matthew Seligman, representing the legislature, had argued that “election” referred only to Election Day itself. The court rejected that interpretation. Plaintiffs’ attorney Thomas McCarthy contended that the election period includes the full early-voting window.

The invalidated amendment would have altered the process for drawing Virginia’s 11 congressional districts. Virginia’s current map was drawn by court order after the 2020 census and elects six Democrats and five Republicans. The proposed map would have anchored five districts in northern Virginia and reshaped four others across Richmond, southern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

One district would have stretched from northern suburbs to Republican-leaning rural areas; another would have grouped three Democratic-leaning college towns in western Virginia. The court observed that while 47 percent of Virginia voters supported Republican congressional candidates in 2024, the map could have produced a 10-1 Democratic delegation.