Virginia Supreme Court Overrules Voters on Redistricting

Democratic leaders harshly criticized the Virginia Supreme Court Friday after it threw out a special election in which voters approved the state legislature’s plan to redraw congressional districts and fight back against President Donald Trump’s wave of partisan gerrymanders in GOP-led states. The ruling effectively overturned the will of Virginia voters on procedural grounds, at a time Republicans are widely gerrymandering without voter approval. “Unlike Republican-led states that have redrawn their maps through backroom deals, the Virginia General Assembly let the people decide for themselves in a free and fair election,” U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote in a statement. Get updates straight to your inbox — for free Join 350,000 readers who rely on our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest in voting, elections and democracy. “The timing of this ruling speaks volumes. The U.S. Supreme Court eviscerates the Voting Rights Act in a lawsuit brought by a January 6 extremist and Southern states race to craft backroom deals disenfranchising minority voters and candidates,” he continued. “Meanwhile Virginia voters choose to stand up against national disenfranchisement only to see their votes cast into the trash by a 4-3 ruling. A sad day indeed but I’m proud of Virginians’ willingness to stay true to our state’s motto after 250 years. That spirit is needed now more than ever.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, viewed as a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, emphasized that five Republican-led states — Tennessee, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas — had all carried out partisan redistricting without holding an election. “Virginia’s voter-approved maps thrown out,” he wrote. “MAGA has rigged the system.” Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D), meanwhile, said the state Supreme Court had “put politics over the rule of law.” “This decision silences the voices of the millions of Virginians who cast their ballots in every corner of the Commonwealth, and it fuels the growing fears across our nation about the state of our democracy,” he said in a statement. “The Republican-led majority of the Supreme Court of Virginia contorted the plain language of the Constitution and Code of Virginia to give it a meaning that was never intended, which allowed them to reach the wrong legal conclusion that fit their political agenda. The consequences of their error are grave.” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin also suggested Democrats were preparing additional legal action or emergency remedies. “The Virginia Supreme Court just rejected the will of the voters,” Martin wrote on social media. “Democrats are exploring every legal pathway to protect the integrity of Virginia’s elections.” Rep. Eugene Vindman (D), who represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, called the state supreme court decision “outrageous and unconscionable.” “At the heart of our democracy is the principle that the results of elections ought to be respected, and the Virginia Supreme Court today dealt our democracy a terrible blow,” he wrote. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) said the court’s ruling disregarded the voices of millions of Virginians who participated in the referendum. “More than three million Virginians cast their ballots in Virginia’s redistricting referendum, and the majority of Virginia voters voted to push back against a President who said he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress with a temporary and responsive referendum. They made their voices heard,” Spanberger said. “I am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling, but my focus as Governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we — the voters — will have the final say.” Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D) warned the ruling was unprecedented in the state’s history. “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia is, with respect, wrong on the law and unprecedented in its consequences,” Surovell said. “For the first time in the 250-year history of our Commonwealth, our Supreme Court has set aside the results of a statewide election in which more than three million Virginians cast ballots and a majority voted to ratify a constitutional amendment.” “The consequences of the majority’s reasoning are sweeping,” he added. “Most troubling of all is the precedent the Court has now set.” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) tied the ruling directly to the broader fallout from the Supreme Court’s recent Callais decision gutting key Voting Rights Act protections. “Over three million Virginia citizens cast their votes in a free and fair election, yet the State Supreme Court has chosen to invalidate their voice, disenfranchise them and violate their due process rights,” Jeffries said in a statement. “MAGA Republicans have adopted voter suppression as a strategy, as also evidenced by far-right extremists on the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act to open the door to a Jim Crow-like attack on Black representation across the American South.” Virginia House Speaker Don Scott (D) emphasized that Virginians had approved the maps through the democratic process rather than through closed-door legislative maneuvering — like Republicans have done other states. “Three million people voted in a free and fair election. We gave this decision to the voters — exactly where it belongs — and they spoke loud and clear,” Scott said. “They voted YES because they wanted to fight back against the Trump power grab.” “That truth doesn’t change because of a court ruling,” he added. “This was always about more than one election — it was about whether the voices of the people matter. And no decision can erase what Virginians made clear at the ballot box.” Republicans, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling as a major victory. “Virginians spoke loud and clear in 2020 that voters should pick their elected officials, not the other way around,” Virginians for Fair Maps co-chairs Jason Miyares and former U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor said in a joint statement. “Today, their voices were heard over the shamefully deceptive rhetoric and language of an unconstitutional effort by Richmond Democrats to carve up the state for themselves.” Trump also quickly celebrated the ruling.“Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia,” Trump wrote on social media. “The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander.”