The Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Friday to void a redistricting referendum that would have redrawn the state's congressional map to a 10-1 Democratic tilt — overturning it before a single candidate filed under the new lines. The court found the legislature cast its first required vote on October 31, 2025, after early voting had already begun and 40 percent of ballots were already cast, violating the constitutional requirement that two separate legislative sessions — with an intervening election between them — must approve any amendment.
Said Justice Arthur Kelsey for the majority: "While the Commonwealth is free by its lights to do the right thing for the right reason, the Rule of Law requires that it be done the right way."
The constitutional order does not bend because the calendar is inconvenient. The Founders built procedural guardrails for exactly this reason — so that no faction, in any season of power, could rewrite the rules of self-governance on the fly. The 6-5 map holds.