Goldtent TA Paradise

Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Democrats’ redistricting plan, dimming party’s midterm hopes

1. pedro_deleon says:

   May 8, 2026 - 11:28 am at 11:28 am

   The court ruled on procedure, not the political gerrymandering designed to give partisan advantage.

   “who defended the legislature, argued that the “election” should be defined narrowly to mean the Tuesday of the general election. In that case, the legislature’s first vote on the redistricting amendment occurred before the election and was constitutional, he told judges.

   But, the Supreme Court said in its ruling, “this view appears to be wholly unprecedented in Virginia’s history.”

   An attorney for the plaintiffs, Thomas McCarthy, argued that an “election” should be interpreted to cover the entire period during which people can cast ballots, which lasts several weeks in Virginia. If that’s the case, he told justices, then the legislature’s initial endorsement of the redistricting amendment came too late to comply with the state constitution.

   The Supreme Court agreed with that argument, writing: “The General Assembly passed the proposed constitutional amendment for the first time well after voters had begun casting ballots during the 2025 general election.”

   By the time lawmakers initially endorsed the constitutional amendment, statewide voters already had cast more than 1.3 million ballots in the general election, about 40% of the total votes ultimately cast, the court said.”