Washington — In a significant decision on Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court nullified a congressional redistricting referendum that voters in Virginia had approved last month. This ruling is a setback for Democrats who were counting on a more favorable district map to boost their representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The court’s ruling nullifies a newly approved congressional map that would have increased Democratic advantages across 10 districts while leaving Republicans with just one secure seat. Currently, Virginia’s House delegation is evenly split, with six Democrats and five Republicans, despite the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators.
The court’s opinion stated, “We hold that the legislative process used to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia.” The justices concluded that the commonwealth had improperly submitted a proposed constitutional amendment to voters in a manner that contravened the required election sequence.
This procedural breach, the court ruled, “irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”
Virginia law dictates that for a constitutional amendment to be presented to voters, it must first receive approval from the General Assembly on two occasions, with a House of Delegates election occurring between these approvals.
The court highlighted that voting for the House of Delegates’ general election began on September 19, 2025, and concluded on Election Day, November 4, 2025. Notably, the General Assembly voted to propose the redistricting amendment on October 31, by which time over 1.3 million Virginians, or about 40% of voters, had already cast their ballots.
The court determined that the redistricting amendment process in this case deprived those 1.3 million voters of their constitutionally protected “opportunity to elect the House of Delegates that will participate in the second legislative vote on the proposed amendment.”
In a court filing Friday evening, attorneys for Democratic Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Don Scott said that Democratic state leaders intended to file an emergency petition to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Virginia Senate Republican Leader Ryan T. McDougle praised the court’s decision in Scott v. McDougle.
“The Supreme Court ruling today affirms what we all know: you cannot violate the Constitution to change the Constitution,” McDougle said. “The justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia after careful and thorough review of this matter affirmed that even the General Assembly must follow the law.”
Scott said, “We respect the decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia. I’m proud that Virginians came out in historic numbers, made their voices heard, and sent a message not just here at home — but across the country — to Donald Trump and his administration.”
For his part, President Trump praised the decision as a “huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia.”
A number of states are trying to reconfigure their congressional maps after Texas in 2025 attempted to redistrict to be more favorable to Republicans. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, then announced the Golden State would try to reshape its map in response. Since then, both red and blue states have taken to their state legislatures to redistrict.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia alluded to the nationwide redistricting fight in a statement following the court decision.
“Unlike GOP-led states that redrew their congressional maps in backroom deals, Virginia let the people decide,” he said. “But the Virginia Supreme Court has blocked the people’s choice. So we have to campaign and win on their maps. We can do it!”
