A Virginia judge ruled Tuesday that a proposed constitutional amendment letting Democrats redraw the state's congressional maps was illegal, potentially foiling their efforts to pick up seats in the US House in November. Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. struck down the Virginia legislature's actions on three grounds, including finding that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session, the AP reports. His order also said Democrats failed to approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year's general election and failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law. As a result, he said, the amendment was invalid and void.
The unusual mid-decade redistricting battle across the country has resulted, so far, in nine more seats that Republicans believe they can win in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio. Democrats, meanwhile, think they can win six more because of redistricting in California and Utah. That leaves the GOP up by three seats, and Democrats hope to fully or partially make that up in Virginia. As in Virginia, redistricting is still being litigated in several states, and there is no guarantee that the parties will win the seats they have redrawn.
Democratic leaders said they would appeal the ruling immediately. They accused Republicans of "court-shopping" by taking the case to one of the most conservative parts of the state, CNN reports. "Nothing that happened today will dissuade us from continuing to move forward and put this matter directly to the voters," Senate and House Democratic leaders in the General Assembly said in a joint statement. "Republicans who can't win at the ballot box are abusing the legal process in an attempt to sow confusion and block Virginians from voting."
Hurley's ruling came after lawmakers said they would unveil their proposed new districts to voters by the end of this week. The state is currently represented in the House by six Democrats and five Republicans from districts whose boundaries were imposed by a court after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census. Democrats have proposed putting the issue to voters in an April referendum.
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