In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court of Virginia struck down a proposed redistricting amendment that Democrats passed through the General Assembly after more than 1.3 million Virginians had already cast their ballots — with as little as four days remaining in the 45-day voting window. The court found the maneuver violated Article XII, Section 1 of Virginia's constitution, which requires a proposed amendment to clear two separate legislatures with an intervening election so voters can weigh in before the second vote.
The court was direct: "Under this thesis, early Virginia voters unknowingly forfeited their constitutionally protected opportunity to vote for or against delegates who favor or disfavor amending the Constitution by not anticipating a legislative vote on a constitutional amendment four days before the last day of voting."
Attorney General Jay Jones called the ruling a silencing of Virginians' voices. The court called it the only reading that makes the words of the constitution mean anything. The Founders built procedural guardrails for exactly this reason — because process is not bureaucracy. It is the constitutional order itself.