Virginia Supreme Court sets aside redistricting election

[Alhena]

Link to tweet

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Damn.

[Lovie777]

2. Appeal it................

[Alhena]

4. To the US Supreme Court? They don't grant cert on matters of state law

[SSJVegeta]

5. The new precedent is that state laws in terms of redistricting are set in stone

But appealing it would either force the supreme court to side with the gerrymandering. Or rule against it and give fodder for the plaintiffs in the southern states.

[Alhena]

7. The only time SCOTUS hears appeals from state Supreme Courts is when federal issues are involved

[Lovie777]

9. Lets see what happens in Florida.................

apparently the same situation but without support of the voters, what will Florida Supreme court do?

My bet is in favor of DeSantis partisan gerrymandering.

Partisan vs race, both are wrong in a so called democracy.

[In It to Win It]

12. I have absolutely no faith in the Florida Supreme Court

Even if they don't outright rule for DeSantis, they'll find some reason to delay while leaving the current gerrymander in place.

[bluestarone]

3. WTF?

[dweller]

6. What part of

Article XII Section 1 does it violate ?

🤔


✌🏻

[Amishman]

13. It's debatable, but the argument is the timing of the votes in legislature for the process.

The change championed by referendum itself does not violate the VA constitution, it was that the required process was not followed (supposedly).

A proposed amendment must pass the general assembly twice, with an intervening election between the two.

The reasoning for striking it down is that since the first vote occurred during the VA early voting window had started already when the first vote was conducted, and that this means there had not been an entire intervening election in-between the two.

I get and acknowledge the technicality, but at the same time, saying that this 'incurably taints' the election seems like bullshit.

[dweller]

15. Virginia Mercury report

The redistricting battle began on Oct. 27, just days before the Nov. 4 state elections, when Democratic lawmakers introduced a constitutional amendment during a special session of the General Assembly that would allow congressional districts to be redrawn outside of the once-in-a-decade redistricting cycle tied to the census.

The proposal immediately sparked partisan fights over both the timing of the amendment and Democrats’ push to redraw Virginia’s congressional map ahead of the midterms.

The House advanced the proposal the next day, and the Senate approved it on Oct. 31 along party lines, pushing it forward as required by the multi-step constitutional process, which required the amendment to pass again in a subsequent session.

When lawmakers returned to Richmond in January, they approved the legislation a second time, but the measure soon became entangled in legal challenges.

After Hurley first ruled the amendment invalid, the Supreme Court of Virginia intervened, allowing the referendum to proceed despite the lower court ruling. At the time, justices made clear they were not resolving the broader legal questions, only ensuring that voters would have the opportunity to weigh in.

The court’s earlier decision to allow the referendum onto the ballot led many legal observers to believe the amendment would likely survive if voters approved it.
—————————-

The voters approved it by roughly 3%

https://virginiamercury.com/2026/05/08/supreme-court-of-virginia-strikes-down-redistricting-amendment-keeps-current-maps-in-place/


note : Bolding mine


✌🏻

[Amishman]

16. yes, early voting began Sept 19th, well before the october general assembly vote

so the argument is that because there were voters who voted before the first GA vote, the requirement that there be an election between the two GA votes was not followed.

I can see that technicality and I do see it as a violation of the process. However, were I disagree is that it is a material breach. I believe it is extremely unlikely that the issue would have been decisive to flip enough of those early votes to change the composition of the second legislature.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Don't appeal. Motion to re-consider, using SCOTUS' Callais decision.

[Lovie777]

10. Good point..................

[Buckeyeblue]

11. The ruling seems to be tied to a technicality of bringing the referendum to the voters

The court isn't saying you can't change the map. The court is saying the way the referendum was brought before the voters violated state law.

[videohead5]

14. Can Democrats

Just go ahead and redistrict anyway? Do they have enough of a majority in Virginia?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. A Private Call Reveals Democrats' Desperation Over Tossing of Map (NYT gift article)

I personally believe that given the ruling by Alito and other GOP gerrymandering, the steps outlined here are appropriate.

Link to tweet

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/us/politics/democrats-virginia-plans-gerrymandering.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hVA.KzAI.Wf17nRa9PSjl&smid=nytcore-ios-share

During a private discussion on Saturday that included Democratic House members from Virginia and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, the lawmakers vented anger at their defeat at the Virginia Supreme Court, spoke about a collective determination to flip two or three Republican-held seats under the existing map and discussed a bank-shot proposal to redraw the congressional lines anyway, according to three people who participated in the call and two others who were briefed on it.....

Any plans to enact a new congressional map for this year’s midterm elections would require action in the next few days. In a court filing last month, Steven Koski, the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, said any changes to the maps after Tuesday, May 12, “will significantly increase the risk” of his agency being unable to properly prepare for the state’s scheduled Aug. 4 primary election......

One key to the plan would be having Democrats in Richmond lower the mandatory retirement age for state Supreme Court justices, an idea that began circulating among state lawmakers and members of Congress after a column proposing a version of the idea was published on Friday night in The Downballot, a progressive newsletter.

Ms. Spanberger would have to sign off on any legislation that lowered the judicial retirement age. She has not been briefed on the proposal, the people involved in the discussion or briefed on it said. Her spokeswoman, Libby Wiet, declined to comment.

The first step in the process, as discussed on the delegation’s call, would be to invoke a January ruling by a circuit court judge in Tazewell County, Va., that said the 2026 constitutional amendment effort to redraw the maps was invalid because county officials did not post notice of it at courthouses and other public locations three months before a general election.

Representative Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat who represents Loudoun County, Va., said in an interview that he supported doing whatever was necessary to preserve the map voters approved in last month’s referendum — including replacing the state’s Supreme Court justices.

“Everyone has got to have a strong stomach right now; this is a complete disaster waiting to happen if people are timid,” said Mr. Subramanyam, who was on the Saturday call. “We have Republican states ignoring their constitutions and interrupting early voting and ignoring their Supreme Courts all together. We know based on that, Republicans would explore every single option possible to move this forward.”....

In an interview on Friday night, before his Saturday meeting with Virginia lawmakers, Mr. Jeffries said he was “exploring how to unravel this decision.”

“It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment, and it’s unprecedented in American history as far as we can tell that an actual election has been overturned by a handful of unelected judges,” Mr. Jeffries said. “We’re not going to step back, we will continue to fight back.”

This is a very aggressive plan which could backfire. However, this plan may be necessary to stop trump's gerrymandering.