Virginia Supreme Court Voids April 21 Redistricting Referendum, Blocking New Congressional Map

The Supreme Court of Virginia on Friday voided the results of the state’s April 21 redistricting referendum in a 4-3 ruling, blocking certification of a voter-approved constitutional amendment and stopping a new congressional map from taking effect.

The court said the measure failed not because of the referendum itself, but because lawmakers did not follow the amendment process required by the Virginia Constitution. Under Article XII, Section 1, a constitutional amendment must pass two successive legislatures separated by an intervening general election. The court held that the required “general election” includes Virginia’s early-voting period, not just Election Day. Because in-person early voting for the Nov. 4, 2025, general election began Sept. 19, 2025, and the General Assembly’s first vote on the amendment came later, on Oct. 31, 2025, the constitutional sequence was not met.

That meant the April 21 vote, though approved by voters, could not be legally certified. Ballotpedia reported a preliminary statewide result of 51.7% voting yes, but the court said the outcome was void.

Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Teresa M. Chafin, Stephen R. McCullough and Wesley G. Russell Jr. Chief Justice Cleo Powell dissented, joined by Justices Thomas P. Mann and Junius P. Fulton III.

In explaining the court’s reading of the constitution, Kelsey wrote: “The metes and bounds of an election begin with the point of casting votes and end with the point of receiving votes and closing the polls on the last day of the election. . . .”

The ruling has immediate political consequences because the referendum was tied to a mid-decade redraw of Virginia’s congressional map. Reporting by The Washington Post and other outlets had said the proposed map could have shifted as many as four of Virginia’s 11 U.S. House seats toward Democrats, making the case part of a wider fight over control of the House in 2026.

The dispute reached the state’s highest court after Republican legislative leaders and related plaintiffs challenged the referendum and map. A circuit judge in Tazewell County had already blocked certification and implementation in an April 22 final judgment. The Supreme Court of Virginia then took up the appeal on an expedited schedule.

The decision leaves in place the lower court’s block and closes off, at least for now, the path that Democratic officials had defended for putting the map into effect. Among them was Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, who was involved in defending the referendum.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, said his office was reviewing possible next steps after the ruling.

“This Court’s ruling follows a dangerous trend of tilting power away from the people,” Jones said. “My team is carefully reviewing this unprecedented order and we are evaluating every legal pathway forward to defend the will of the people and protect the integrity of Virginia’s elections.”

Republican challengers welcomed the decision, which adopted the core argument they had pressed: that the amendment never validly reached the ballot because the legislature’s first approval came after the intervening general election had already begun through early voting.

The timing of any response is especially tight. Virginia’s enacted 2026 filing window for U.S. House candidates runs from May 1 to May 25, putting immediate pressure on any further legal or legislative action connected to the state’s congressional lines.