Polls are open in Virginia to vote on a referendum to redraw the lines of the commonwealth’s congressional districts. To vote, head to your designated polling place; polls are open until 7 p.m.
Be sure to bring your government-issued ID to vote. If you are not registered, Virginia allows same-day voter registration with a provisional ballot. If voting by mail, ballots must be postmarked on or before April 21 and received by noon on April 24.
What’s On the Ballot?
The ballot will have one question:
“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
Background Info
Last year, the Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed a proposal to amend the state constitution to redraw the district lines ahead of November’s general election.
Under current law, Virginia’s 11 congressional districts are drawn once every 10 years by the Virginia Redistricting Commission. The legislative body is made up of eight legislators and eight citizens, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. Virginia’s congressional districts were last redrawn in 2021. The next planned redraw is in 2031.
The proposed amendment would give the General Assembly the authority to redraw one or more of Virginia’s congressional districts before 2031 in limited circumstances.
What Is Gerrymandering?
You may have learned about gerrymandering in middle school. It’s the process of redrawing district lines so that the controlling party’s voters are the majority in as many districts as possible.
The practice was banned for years. But in 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in Rucho v. Common Cause that redrawing lines strictly for partisan purposes was permissible. Only the redrawing of boundaries strictly on the basis of race is still prohibited.
That ruling set the stage for a wave of proposals to redraw districts in states across the country. Last August, at President Donald Trump’s urging, Republicans in the Texas legislature redrew the state’s congressional districts. The move was intended to give their party the advantage in five more seats than they already hold, based on 2024 voting patterns.
California, whose legislature mostly consists of Democrats, responded in kind. The state offered a referendum to its voters that would redraw lines and give Democrats extra seats in the House. The referendum passed.
Both moves were challenged, and the Supreme Court has allowed both. There have been similar proposals in other states. Some have come to pass, and some haven’t.
Partisan Shift
The current makeup of Virginia’s U.S. House delegation is six Democrats and five Republicans. If approved, Virginia’s new redistricting map would result in 10 Democratic-leaning districts. They lie at least partially in heavily Democratic Northern Virginia. One district would be heavily Republican-leaning.
According to the voting patterns from last year’s gubernatorial election as provided by the Virginia Public Access Project, the current districts break down as five strongly Democratic, two leaning Democratic, and one tossup. Two lean Republican and one strongly Republican.
Under the proposed map, there would still be five strongly Democratic districts, along with five leaning-Democratic districts and one strongly Republican district — essentially all of Southwest Virginia. So there could potentially be a 10-1 split after November’s general elections.
Fair or Foul?
Not surprisingly, opinions about Virginia’s redistricting proposal generally run along partisan lines.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger told Roanoke’s WFXR that she voted for the proposed maps because the change would be temporary. The redistricting committee will still redraw the maps yet again after the 2030 census. And she said the maps would be “responsive to this moment in time, where we have a president who has gone to other states seeking additional congressional seats saying he’s, quote, ‘entitled to them.’”
Rep. Randy Wittman, one of the House members whose road to reelection will become more difficult if the new map passes, criticized the governor’s “180-degree turnaround,” having previously criticized partisan redistricting.
Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, spoke against the proposal at a March event. He said that the current redistricting process was approved by voters during the high-turnout 2020 presidential election and should be respected as the people’s will. Miyares described the redistricting effort as “some Richmond politicians trying in the dead of night to take away your voice. They’re trying to pass the most left-wing, gerrymandered map in the entire country, and wipe out any Republican voices that you may have in Congress.”
State senate president pro tempore L. Louise Lucas, a Democrat, told NPR, “Donald Trump knows he’s going to lose the midterms. He knows it. That’s why he’s started this mess in the first place. Today we are leveling the playing field. These are not ordinary times, and Virginia will not sit on the sidelines while it happens.”
Some candidates, including former Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe, have announced House candidacies in the anticipated districts.
Virginia Mercury estimates that roughly 48% of Virginians will be voting in a new district if the proposal passes. You can see the full redistricting map on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
Feature image courtesy Seventyfour/stock.adobe.com
