Virginia Supreme Court hears challenge to redistricting amendment

The Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on Republicans’ challenge to a congressional redistricting plan approved by voters last week that could help Democrats gain four more seats in the U.S. House and turn a 6-5 delegate margin to 10-1.

“The proposed amendment is invalid for several reasons, any one of which is sufficient to invalidate the proposed amendment and require the vote to be invalidated,” Republican attorney Thomas McCarthy wrapped up the hour-long hearing on Monday.

Republicans claim the Democratic-led General Assembly violated procedural requirements by putting before voters a constitutional amendment that would allow redistricting in the middle of the decade. If the court agrees that lawmakers violated the rules, it could invalidate the amendment and render last week’s statewide vote meaningless.

“It is often said that our government is a government of laws, not of men,” McCarthy continued. “Unfortunately, this is not the case if a partisan majority bypasses the constitutional amendment process and undermines the rights of the people on whom the full power of government ultimately rests; moreover, this partisan majority can transform our system from a nonpartisan system where voters elect representatives to a partisan system where representatives elect voters.”

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“We ask the court to follow the constitutional amendment process by approving the following decision, declaring the proposed amendment invalid and prohibiting the certification of the election.”

Lawyers for Democratic legislative leaders urged the Virginia Supreme Court to uphold the change and clear the way for the new map, arguing that voters and lawmakers followed every step required by the state Constitution. In an attempt to refute this claim, attorney Matthew Seligman said, “The public validly approved the proposed amendment last Tuesday” and argued that opponents were trying to undo the democratic process that had already been completed with legislative approval and statewide voting.

Notably, the justices acknowledged that courts in Virginia had only allowed the vote to take place amid legal challenges.

The Virginia redistricting map was narrowly approved by voters over the weekend in a special election that the Virginia Supreme Court allowed to be held amid a legal fight over redistricting in the middle of the decade. (Virginia Legislative Information System)

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Seligman also argued to the justices that the challengers’ case was based on a reading of limitations in the Constitution that did not actually exist. He argued that the General Assembly controls its own procedures, that nothing in the Constitution prevents lawmakers from acting as they did in special session, and that the legal meaning of “election” supports the state’s position that the amendment was adopted before the relevant November election.

A state-by-state breakdown of the potential 2026 mid-term impact of redistricting lines redrawn to date. (OpenMapTiles/OpenStreetMap)

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He closed by saying that federal law and court precedent support the view that Election Day is a single day in November, defeating opponents’ argument.

The Virginia court hearings mark the latest twist in the national redistricting battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking leverage that will determine whether Republicans retain their narrow majority in the House of Representatives in November’s elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.