RICHMOND, VIRGINIA– For the second time, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that voters can cast ballots on a Democratic-led congressional redistricting plan that could help the party win four more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, while judges review legal challenges to the effort.
The court ruled a statewide referendum could be held April 21 on whether to allow redistricting midway through the decade, voiding a temporary restraining order put in place by a Tazewell County judge last month. This comes after the Supreme Court issued a similar ruling last month in a related case.
The court has not yet ruled on whether the redistricting amendment and the mid-decade referendum are legal, suggesting that the vote scheduled for April may be futile if the Supreme Court upholds Lower court ruling Obstruction of effort. Early voting on the referendum is supposed to begin on Friday.
Since late February, officials in Tazewell County have refrained from preparing for the referendum in light of the restraining order. Tazewell Elections Director Brian Earls said Wednesday that he will work hard to ensure early voting begins in his county on Friday.
“I think we will be ready,” he said in an email. “If not, it won’t be for lack of effort.”
President Donald Trump launched an unusual mid-decade redistricting battle last year by pushing Republican officials inward Texas to redraw regions to help his party win more seats. The goal was for the Republican Party to maintain a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the face of political headwinds that would normally favor the party out of power. In the middle of the term.
Instead, I created Redistricting efforts explode At the national level. So far, Republicans believe they can win nine more House seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats believe they can win six additional seats in California and Utah, and they hope to fully or partially offset the margin of the remaining three seats in Virginia.
In February, Virginia Democrats released a new congressional map aimed at giving their party four additional seats. Since then, the Democratic-led Legislature has passed the proposed map and Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed the document into law.
However, the map will only go into effect if it has voter support and the Supreme Court approves the amendment process.
Virginia Democratic House Speaker Don Scott said Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s decision gives voters a chance to decide whether to use the map.
“The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision ensures that this referendum will go forward and that Virginians will have the opportunity to make their voices heard,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia sought to portray their redistricting efforts as a response to Trump’s transgressions. Republicans appeared horrified by the proposed district map, describing it as a way for northern Virginia liberals to control the rest of the state.
While the court allowed the referendum to go ahead, its ruling did not comment on the legality of the amendment.
“It is the process, not the outcome, of this effort that we may ultimately have to address,” the ruling said. “Issuing an injunction to keep Virginians from the polls is not the right way to make this decision.”