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\n Signs are seen during the Virginia redistricting referendum on April 21 in Fairfax, Va.<\/p>\n
Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/AP<\/p>\n
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Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/AP<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court of Virginia on Friday struck down the congressional redistricting approved by voters in April<\/a>. The ruling is a major setback for Democrats’ attempt to counter the pro-GOP reshuffling of voting maps led by President Trump.<\/p>\n Commonwealth voters last month approved \u2014 by a 52% to 48% margin<\/a> \u2014 a constitutional amendment to allow redistricting. But responding to a lawsuit brought by Republicans, the Virginia high court found that the Democratic-led legislature made procedural errors in how it placed the question on the ballot.<\/p>\n The majority opinion<\/a> of the state Supreme Court found that the legislature violated the multistep process for putting constitutional amendments on the ballot and that the “constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”<\/p>\n “This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the majority wrote. It ordered that the state must use the same congressional district map in the upcoming election as it used in 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n Republicans shoot ahead in redistricting battle <\/p>\n The redistricting could have helped Democrats win four Republican-held House seats. That, combined with five seats tilted toward Democrats in California and one in Utah, made 10 seats. <\/p>\n But the Virginia ruling will now put the GOP far ahead. Republicans currently have a lead of up to eight seats, and are poised to pick up additional seats across the South. Republicans already hold the U.S. House by a few more seats than Democrats.<\/p>\n Florida Republicans redistricted in that state<\/a> in April. Then, after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened voting rights for minority communities<\/a> last week, Republicans in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana began redistricting in their states. Tennessee approved a new map<\/a> aimed at flipping one Democratic seat Thursday.<\/p>\n Usually, states redistrict at the start of the decade when the census count comes in. But Trump prompted a mid-decade redistricting race to try to keep Republican control of the House this November.<\/p>\n The court said the amendment process violated the Virginia Constitution <\/p>\n The Virginia Constitution required districts to be drawn by a bipartisan commission, but the amendment approved by voters temporarily granted the legislature the power to redistrict.<\/p>\n![\"Democratic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777725192_28_.jpeg\")
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