A Virginia court ruled against Democrats' redistricting effort in the state Tuesday, concluding that lawmakers did not follow the proper procedures to approve a state constitutional amendment.
The proposed constitutional amendment is how Virginia Democrats planned to give themselves the power to draw new districts in the state this year, allowing the Legislature to engage in retaliatory redistricting if another state drew new maps outside the usual decennial process or a court order.
State Democrats began the complicated legislative effort to redraw Virginia's congressional map late last year to force a statewide vote this year and put a new map in effect for the 2026 elections.
But Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack S. Hurley Jr. ruled the lawmakers made procedural errors and cannot put the measure before voters in the promised April election.
Amendments in Virginia must be passed by the Legislature twice, with a general election between them. Hurley ruled that since lawmakers' first passage of their proposed redistricting amendment came during early voting for the 2025 election, that nullified their first approval.
Democratic state House Speaker Don Scott said his party will appeal the ruling.
The group supporting the amendment criticized the ruling in a statement.
"This is a clear attempt to confuse voters and block them from having a say. Republicans court-shopped for a ruling because litigation and misinformation are the only tools they have left," Virginians for Fair Elections campaign manager Keren Charles Dongo said in a statement.
Virginia voters had amended the state constitution to put a redistricting commission in charge of the state’s maps. That’s why a redraw — part of a running state-by-state redistricting battle the parties are fighting ahead of the 2026 election — required more than simply passing a new law.
Republicans in Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have conducted redistricting so far this election cycle, putting in new maps that could net the GOP as many as nine House seats. Florida is also looking at drawing new maps.
Meanwhile, Democratic legislators and voters in California, as well as a state court in Utah, have also acted so far to create new maps that could net House Democrats as many as six seats.
National Democrats have eyed new districts in Virginia as a promising way to close the gap, especially as efforts to add seats in Maryland and other states have stalled.
The redistricting battles come amid tight margins in the House of Representatives. A net gain of just three seats by Democrats in November would flip the majority.
