The U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene after Virginia’s highest court invalidated a redistricting amendment that critics said would have heavily favored Democrats in future congressional elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Friday to revive a Virginia congressional redistricting referendum that had been struck down earlier this year by the Virginia Supreme Court, ending an emergency effort by Democratic officials seeking to preserve the measure.
According to an NBC News report, the high court denied the request without any noted dissents.
The decision leaves in place a ruling from the Virginia Supreme Court that found the legislative process used to advance the constitutional amendment violated the state constitution.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger responded to the Supreme Court’s action with criticism directed at both courts, arguing the rulings overturned the outcome of a statewide vote.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has now joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election and the votes of more than three million Virginians,” Spanberger wrote in a post on X. “These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a President who said he’s ‘entitled’ to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls.”
The emergency request submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week came from Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and Solicitor General Tillman Breckenbridge after the state court invalidated the referendum. The filing sought to pause enforcement of the Virginia ruling while the matter was reviewed at the federal level.
In their application, state Democrats argued the Virginia Supreme Court had improperly interpreted federal election law and exceeded its authority.
The filing stated that the Virginia court “is deeply mistaken on two critical issues of federal law,” asserting that the justices relied on what Democrats called a “grave misreading” of federal election requirements concerning Election Day. The application also argued that the court had improperly assumed powers reserved for the legislature in regulating congressional elections.
The dispute originated from a 4-3 decision issued by the Virginia Supreme Court earlier this year. In that ruling, the court found that lawmakers failed to follow constitutional procedures required to place the amendment before voters.
“On March 6, 2026, the General Assembly of Virginia submitted to Virginia voters a proposed constitutional amendment that authorizes partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts in the Commonwealth,” the Virginia Supreme Court stated in its opinion. “We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia.”
The court explained that Virginia’s constitution requires proposed constitutional amendments to receive approval during two separate legislative sessions with an intervening election for the House of Delegates before they may appear on the ballot.
According to the ruling, lawmakers did not satisfy those procedural requirements before advancing the referendum to voters.
The rejected amendment had proposed significant changes to Virginia’s congressional map. Supporters argued the measure reflected voter preferences, while opponents described it as an aggressive partisan redistricting effort that would have shifted the state’s current 6-5 congressional split to a projected 10-1 Democratic advantage.
With the Supreme Court declining to intervene, the Virginia ruling remains in effect and the referendum will not be reinstated.
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