RICHMOND— The polls are in from the April 21 special election. Virginia has voted “Yes” to the Proposed Constitutional Amendment for the redistricting referendum.
The exact question on the ballot was: Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?
The current law is that eleven congressional districts are drawn once every ten years by the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a legislative body made up of eight legislators and eight citizens, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. The last redraw was back in 2021, with the next one not scheduled to be until 2031.
With the vote of yes, the Virginia Department of Elections explains that the General Assembly will have the authority to redraw one or more of Virginia’s congressional districts before 2031 in limited circumstances. In the event that another state redraws its own congressional districts before 2031, without being ordered by a court to do so, the General Assembly would then be able to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts.
“Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they approved a temporary measure to push back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress. Virginians watched other states go along with those demands without voter input — and we refused to let that stand. We responded the right way: at the ballot box,” said Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger in an official statement.
“I understand the urgency of winning congressional seats as a check on this President, and I look forward to campaigning with candidates across the Commonwealth working to earn Virginians’ trust — and their votes. Looking forward, I remain committed to ensuring Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission gets back to work after the 2030 census, and to protecting the process Virginians voted to create,” she continued.
As a vote of “yes,” the General Assembly would be allowed to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts, since other states have done so, in addition to giving effect to the proposed district map in time for the 2026 Congressional elections, and return the responsibility of drawing the congressional districts in 2031 to the Virginia Redistricting Commission.
“I am disappointed in yesterday’s election results. So much of the information that was presented was misleading, and this very well may have led to confusion in a voter’s understanding of what their vote actually accomplished. Representative democracy works when the person that represents you understands the needs of the people they represent. York County and Williamsburg will be in different Congressional Districts and will be represented by different individuals who will most likely live in Northern Virginia and Richmond, who will not have our best interests at heart and do not understand the needs of our community,” said Senator Danny Diggs about the election results.
“This entire process of drawing the new maps was done behind closed doors by a selected few, and the language of the amendment was deliberately misleading. The next step in this process is for the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality and legality of this entire process. I hope they will make the right decision based upon the law so that all Virginians may continue to have a voice in their government,” he continued.
The legality of this is being debated in the courts, and the Supreme Court will rule on whether this is or is not in violation of the Virginia State Constitution, though no set date has been listed as to when to expect this ruling.
