Virginia judge voids redistricting push, rules lawmakers overstepped authority

A Virginia circuit court judge has struck down a General Assembly-approved redistricting amendment, ruling lawmakers overstepped their authority during a 2024 special legislative session and violated constitutional requirements tied to elections and voter notice.

In a sweeping ruling issued Tuesday, Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack S. Hurley Jr. invalidated actions taken to advance the proposed constitutional amendment, blocking it from moving forward and barring it from being submitted to voters.

The lawsuit focused on whether lawmakers could take up a redistricting-related constitutional amendment during a special session initially convened to address budget matters and whether the General Assembly followed its own rules when expanding the scope of that session.

"Certainly, both houses of the Commonwealth’s legislature are required to follow their own rules and resolutions," Hurley wrote.

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Hurley found lawmakers improperly added redistricting to the list of issues allowed during the special session without the required unanimous consent or supermajority vote.

As a result, the court ruled the joint resolution proposing changes to how congressional and legislative districts are drawn fell outside the limits lawmakers themselves set when the special session was called.

"The Court FINDS that adding… [a] joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia related to the reapportionment or redistricting violated… the General Assembly’s own call to the Governor for the 2024 Special Session, and the Court ORDERS that any such action is void, ab initio," Hurley wrote.

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The decision also addressed when a constitutional amendment may be validly advanced under Virginia law, rejecting arguments that an election occurs only on Election Day rather than during early voting.

Hurley noted that more than 1 million Virginians had already cast ballots in the 2025 House of Delegates elections before lawmakers voted on the amendment.

"For this Court to find the election was only on November 4, 2025, those one million Virginia voters would be completely disenfranchised," Hurley wrote.

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The ruling further found lawmakers failed to comply with a state law requiring proposed constitutional amendments to be publicly posted and published ahead of the next election.

Because those steps were not taken, the court ruled votes cast during the 2026 regular session could not count as the constitutionally required second approval.

"Therefore, the Court FINDS that the provisions of… the Code of Virginia have not been complied with, and therefore all votes on the proposed Constitutional Amendment… are ineffective as being a ‘SECOND’ VOTE OF THE General Assembly," Hurley wrote.

Hurley issued both temporary and permanent injunctions blocking further action on the amendment.

The ruling delivers a major setback to lawmakers seeking to alter Virginia’s redistricting process and underscores limits on legislative power during special sessions.