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Virginia voters will decide April 21 whether to authorize congressional redistricting that could benefit Democrats, even as the state Supreme Court considers a legal challenge that could ultimately invalidate the effort.
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that the statewide referendum may proceed while the justices review a lower court decision against the proposed constitutional amendment. The election could still prove meaningless if the court later agrees that lawmakers failed to meet the legal requirements for putting the measure before voters.
Virginia Democrats currently control six of the state’s 11 U.S. House seats. They support a revised congressional map that could help the party capture as many as 10 seats in this year’s midterm elections.
The map is part of a broader Democratic attempt to counter possible Republican gains in states that redrew congressional districts last year at President Donald Trump’s urging. Trump is seeking to protect the GOP’s narrow House majority amid the political headwinds that often confront the president’s party during midterm elections.
Before the new Virginia districts can take effect, voters must approve temporarily setting aside a constitutional provision that assigns redistricting to a bipartisan commission. The proposed amendment would instead give the General Assembly authority to redraw the congressional map in the middle of the decade.
Lawmakers approved the amendment last fall and again in January. Virginia’s two-step constitutional amendment process requires legislative approval on both sides of an intervening election before a proposal can appear on the ballot.
Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. struck down the General Assembly’s actions last month on three grounds. He found that lawmakers had not followed their own procedures when adding the amendment to a special session.
Hurley also ruled that the first legislative vote occurred too late because early voting in last year’s general election had already begun. As a result, he concluded that the vote did not satisfy the requirement that an election intervene between the General Assembly’s two approvals.
The judge further found that the state failed to publish the amendment at least three months before the election, as required by law. He declared the amendment invalid and void.
Democrats appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. On Friday, the justices agreed to hear the case but said the lower court’s narrowly written injunction does not prevent the April 21 referendum.
Initial briefs are due March 23, while the final round of filings is due April 23—two days after the vote. Any oral arguments would be scheduled later.
Redistricting fights across the country have so far produced nine additional seats Republicans believe they can win in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats see six potential gains in California and Utah.
Virginia Democrats had hoped their proposed map could erase that three-seat gap. Whether the various state redistricting efforts will ultimately determine control of Congress in November remains uncertain.