Virginia Supreme Court strikes down pro-Dem redistricting vote

Virginia's Supreme Court struck down a redistricting referendum approved by voters in a special election.

The court ruled Friday that Democratic lawmakers violated procedural rules when they referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot to draw up a new congressional map that would likely have given Democrats four additional seats, reported WTVR-TV.

"We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1, of the Constitution of Virginia," the ruling stated. "This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy."

The state spent $5.2 million for the special election and outside groups raised nearly $100 million to persuade voters, and the new map – which was in response to Republican-led states that redrew districts to add GOP seats – was expected to shift state's congressional partisan split from 6-5 to favor Democrats 10-1.

"The Constitution prescribes a way by which a ballot referendum can occur," said Virginia Tech professor Cayce Myers, explaining Republican arguments against the referendum, "Generally speaking, the ballot referendum has to pass through the legislature, there has to be an intervening election, and then there's another passing of the vote, and then it goes on the ballot."

"That process, by just looking at it from a constitutional perspective, looks like a long process," the professor added. "This process was very fast because there was a special session."