The Supreme Court of Virginia has invalidated a voter-approved constitutional amendment that sanctioned partisan gerrymandering of the state’s congressional districts. In a narrow 4-3 decision, the court determined that the Virginia General Assembly violated necessary procedural requirements by advancing the amendment. This ruling underscores the ongoing legal and political battle surrounding redistricting efforts in the United States.
The crux of the court’s decision, articulated by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, rests on the violation of Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution. The General Assembly’s advancement of the amendment on October 31, 2025, was ruled procedurally improper due to it occurring after the start of early voting for the House of Delegates election. The court interpreted the term “election” to include both early and Election Day voting, countering the state’s argument that it referred solely to Election Day itself. By this time, approximately 1.3 million Virginians had already voted, representing about 40 percent of the electorate. Details of the ruling are available on JURIST.
The amendment would have altered the structure of Virginia’s redistricting process by suspending the bipartisan commission and permitting state lawmakers to redraw congressional district boundaries mid-decade. This would have potentially led to a significant shift in the state’s House delegation, moving from a 6-5 split to a 10-1 advantage.
Chief Justice Powell, along with Justices Mann and Fulton, dissented, arguing that the majority’s interpretation conflicts with conventional understandings of elections under Virginia statutes and federal law, both traditionally viewing them as single-day events.
This decision emerges against a backdrop of heightened redistricting tensions. Virginia Democrats had pursued the amendment in response to similar Republican-led efforts in other states, notably Florida. There, a newly drawn map endorsed by Governor Ron DeSantis resulted in additional GOP-favorable districts, following a Supreme Court ruling that affected the Voting Rights Act, as reported by The New York Times.
The court’s ruling means that the 2021 court-ordered maps will remain in place for Virginia’s 2026 congressional elections, maintaining the current balance and impacting upcoming electoral strategies.