Virginia Court Nullifies Democrats' Redistricting Plan

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting plan, delivering another major setback to the party in a nationwide battle against Republicans for an edge in this year’s midterm elections. The court ruled that the state’s Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when it placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorize the mid-decade redistricting. Voters narrowly approved the amendment April 21, but the court’s ruling renders the results of that vote meaningless. “This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the court said in its opinion. It comes as the Department of War released files, including a mysterious UFO spotted in a NASA image taken from the moon's surface. Melania Trump broke royal protocol in a pink gown with a shocking detail Dad who suffered 'worst death imaginable' in Utah cave made chilling final noise Dad who suffered 'worst death imaginable' in Utah cave made chilling final noise Democrats had hoped to win as many as four additional U.S. House seats under Virginia’s redrawn U.S. House map as part of an attempt to offset Republican redistricting done elsewhere at the urging of President Donald Trump. That ruling, combined with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision severely weakening the Voting Rights Act, has supercharged the Republicans’ congressional gerrymandering advantage heading into this year’s midterm elections. In late April, Virginia voters decided to ratify an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting aimed at boosting House Democrats' advantage in flipping the chamber later this year, a pointed response backed by former President Barack Obama to similar efforts in several Republican-led states. The referendum was seen as a major setback for President Trump, who described the vote during a tele-rally as a "blatant partisan power grab that nobody’s really ever seen anything like it." "Congratulations, Virginia! Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet," Obama wrote in a post on social media following the called vote. "Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back." Democrats push forward with 2026 redistricting efforts in Virginia Key Virginia congressional races that could determine control of house The View fans beg 'MAGA' Alyssa Farah Griffin to stop 'useless talk' "Today’s redistricting referendum is about one thing: President Trump’s power grab. Last summer, he said he’s 'entitled' to more seats in Congress, and states across the country got to work to give him what he demanded," Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger wrote in a post on social media before polls closed on Tuesday. "You can push back, Virginia. Vote YES." The vote centered on a constitutional amendment that will temporarily bypass Virginia's redistricting commission to redraw voting boundaries and give Democrats the advantage in all but one of its 11 congressional districts. It was meant to elevate Democrats' 6-5 majority in the House to a 10-1 majority. Earlier this week the FBI raided the office of Virginia Senate Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, who led the redistricting charge in Virginia. Agents showed up at the Portsmouth, Virginia, office on Wednesday morning with federal search warrants in hand. The search is related to a corruption probe, according to Fox News. It comes after Trump was caught on camera performing a shocking act on Melania at an inappropriate moment.