Virginia's Supreme Court voided a voter-approved redistricting amendment 4-3, citing an unconstitutional approval timeline, locking current congressional maps in place for 2026.
The Supreme Court of Virginia struck down a voter-approved constitutional amendment that would have authorized the Democratic-majority legislature to redraw the state's congressional maps, ruling 4-3 that the amendment's path to the ballot was constitutionally defective [1]. The court found that the General Assembly approved the referendum measure while the 2025 House of Delegates elections were already underway, a procedural posture the majority held unconstitutionally denied approximately 1.3 million voters the ability to cast an informed vote on the measure [1]. The ruling leaves Virginia's existing congressional district lines in place.
The case arose from a special election held April 21, 2026, in which Virginia voters ratified the proposed constitutional amendment [1]. Opponents, including challengers backed by the Republican National Committee, argued in the Supreme Court of Virginia that the legislature's timing rendered the referendum void under the state constitution [2]. The court sits in Richmond and exercised original jurisdiction over the constitutional challenge. Attorney General Jay Jones and Democratic legislative leaders defended the amendment's validity; Jack Hurley appeared among counsel contesting it [1]. The 4-3 split signals the depth of the legal disagreement, with three justices concluding the procedural defect did not warrant invalidation of a measure voters had already approved.
The decision carries immediate consequence for the 2026 midterm cycle. Virginia Democrats had pursued the amendment specifically to redraw congressional boundaries before the November 2026 elections, a move that could have altered the competitive balance in several House districts [2]. By voiding the amendment, the court effectively forecloses mid-decade redistricting in Virginia absent a new legislative vehicle that clears the constitutional requirements the majority identified. The ruling adds Virginia to a growing list of states where mid-decade redistricting efforts, pursued by both parties in recent cycles, have collided with judicial limits on the process.
State Democrats announced plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, framing the challenge as a federal constitutional question [1]. The Supreme Court of the United States declined to intervene, issuing that denial on May 15, 2026 [1]. With federal review exhausted, the current Virginia congressional maps will govern the 2026 elections. Any further Democratic effort to alter those lines would require the General Assembly to initiate a new amendment process compliant with the state constitution's timing requirements, a track that cannot be completed before November 2026.
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