WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest court declined on Friday to restore Virginia’s congressional district boundaries that could have provided Democrats with opportunities to gain four additional seats in the narrowly split House of Representatives.
The justices issued their decision without recording any opposition, marking another chapter in the country’s ongoing redistricting battles that began when former President Donald Trump encouraged GOP-led states to redraw their electoral maps and intensified following a recent high court decision that significantly limited the Voting Rights Act.
Recently, the justices have supported Republican efforts in Alabama and Louisiana seeking to redesign their congressional boundaries to create more districts favorable to GOP candidates after the voting rights ruling.
However, Virginia’s circumstances differed, originating from a 4-3 decision by Virginia’s highest state court that overturned a constitutional amendment that voters approved by a narrow margin just last month.
The state court determined that the legislature, controlled by Democrats, incorrectly initiated the process to place the amendment on the ballot after early voting had already commenced in Virginia’s general election last fall.
The Supreme Court generally avoids interfering in state court matters unless they involve federal law questions. Virginia Democrats attempted to convince the justices that the state court misinterpreted federal law and Supreme Court precedent establishing that elections occur on Election Day itself, regardless of whether early voting is in progress.
Virginia’s proposed amendment was designed to counter Republican victories in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, and to offset new mapping in Florida that recently became effective. When Virginia’s amendment initially passed, it temporarily balanced the national redistricting competition between both parties.
The Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling disrupted that balance.
Democrats may potentially incorporate the high court’s denial of their request, alongside its approval of Republican initiatives in Alabama and Louisiana, into campaign messaging about partisan Supreme Court decisions.
Leading state Democrats disagreed on whether seeking Supreme Court assistance was premature. “Time grows short, but it is not yet too late,” attorneys representing Democratic legislative leaders and the state argued to the justices in Friday’s filing.
One day prior, the office of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger had already announced that this year’s elections would proceed using existing districts created in 2021. Virginia Commissioner of Elections Steve Koski stated last month that district boundaries needed court approval by this past Tuesday for primary elections scheduled for Aug. 4.
The state Republican party leader praised the justices’ decision. “Wisely, the Supreme Court of the United States has confirmed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia,” state party chairman Jeff Ryer stated. “This should once and for all put to rest the Democrats’ effort to disenfranchise half of Virginia.”
