The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled Tuesday that the procedure state Democrats used to hold a referendum allowing the state government to draw a new congressional map was unconstitutional. The new map could have added as many as four seats to the Democratic delegation in the upcoming midterm elections.
The court’s 4–3 decision was based on the state constitution’s stipulation that constitutional amendments go through a lengthy process including multiple votes in the state legislature and an intervening election. The court held that this process had not been complied with.
Writing for the court, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey stated that “the Commonwealth submitted a proposed constitutional amendment to Virginia voters in an unprecedented manner that violated the… Constitution of Virginia. This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”
The ruling is a blow to the Democratic Party, which is engaged in an ongoing redistricting battle with Republicans to increase the odds of winning the House in the November midterm elections. That battle has been made even more difficult by the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that special congressional districts for minorities, long required under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, constitute illegal racial gerrymandering.
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