Supreme Court Dismisses Virginia Democrats’ Appeal on Redistricting
The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down a request from the Virginia Democratic Party to become involved after the state Supreme Court ruled against a gerrymandering initiative aimed at favoring Democrats in congressional map redraws.
According to reports, the dismissal noted that there was “no dissent” regarding the decision. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger expressed her discontent, stating that the court has essentially invalidated the votes of over 3 million Virginians.
“Both the United States and Virginia Supreme Courts have chosen to undermine the election process,” Spanberger remarked. “These voters participated earnestly, hoping to amplify their voices against a president who seemed to think he deserved more congressional seats prior to the actual voting.”
This latest Supreme Court ruling follows an emergency motion filed by Democratic officials, including Virginia’s Attorney General Jay Jones and Solicitor General Tillman Brickbridge, which sought to block the Virginia Supreme Court’s previous decision.
The Virginia Democratic Party contended in its appeal that the state Supreme Court made significant mistakes regarding two federal law issues. One primary concern was that the court had a flawed interpretation of the state constitution, linked to a misreading of federal law.
The officials asserted that the Virginia Supreme Court “seriously misunderstood” two aspects of federal law, one being the erroneous interpretation of Election Day as a singular day. Additionally, they argued that the court had unduly concentrated the power that should belong to the state legislature in regulating federal elections.
This appeal came after the Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the legislative approach taken to pass a redistricting amendment violated the Virginia Constitution’s Article 12, Section 1.
The court highlighted that a constitutional amendment which would enable partisan gerrymandering was submitted to voters by the General Assembly. They concluded that the legislative process used to push this amendment was unconstitutional.
The Virginia Supreme Court also clarified that the General Assembly must endorse the amendment twice during two separate sessions, with a delegate election occurring in between.
This ruling followed a referendum where Virginia residents supported a change that would drastically alter the congressional district distribution from 6-5 to a more favorable 10-1 split for Democrats.
