VA Supreme Court Strikes Down House Maps

Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Democrats' redrawn US House maps, giving Republicans a win The Virginia Supreme Court has struck down a Democratic congressional redistricting plan that had won voter approval The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting plan, delivering another major setback to the party in a nationwide battle against Republicans for an edge in this year's midterm elections. The court ruled 4-3 that the state's Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when it placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorize mid-decade redistricting. Voters narrowly approved the amendment on April 21, but the court's ruling renders the vote’s result meaningless. Arthur Kelsey wrote that the legislature submitted the proposed constitutional amendment to voters “in an unprecedented manner.” “This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” he wrote.