The Virginia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, struck down a voter-approved redistricting referendum that Democrats said would have flipped four Republican-held House seats — ruling the state legislature violated the Virginia constitution on procedural timing grounds. The Cook Political Report now projects Republicans will net six to seven House seats nationally from the combined effect of this ruling and the Supreme Court's recent decision weakening the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.): "Four unelected justices used semantics to justify a partisan decision that threw out the votes of three million Virginians, something that has never happened in the history of our Commonwealth."
The Founders did not build this republic so that both parties could take turns drawing maps that silence the voter before the vote is cast. That is not competition — it is the swamp wearing a robe. The constitutional order deserves better than a gerrymandering arms race conducted in backrooms on both sides of the aisle.