A judge in Tazewell County blocked Virginia election officials from certifying the results of Tuesday’s narrow referendum on mid-decade congressional redistricting and from putting any new maps in place.
Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley issued the injunction on Wednesday, April 24, one day after voters approved the measure by 51.45% to 48.55%. The ruling keeps the state’s current congressional districts in effect for now.
Democrats in the General Assembly had pushed the constitutional amendment to let lawmakers draw new district lines before the 2031 census cycle.
Goal of the Virginia Referendum
The goal was to create a map that could give Democrats as many as 10 of Virginia’s 11 U.S. House seats, up from the current 6-5 split.
Republicans, including the Republican National Committee and GOP members of Congress, sued to stop the process. They argued that Democrats broke several rules when they put the amendment on the ballot.
In his order, Judge Hurley said the legislature violated state constitutional requirements. Those included rules on special sessions, timing for passing amendments, and how the ballot question had to be written and published.
He ruled the entire amendment invalid from the start and declared that votes cast in the April 21 special election could not be certified or used to change the maps.
“Any and all votes for or against the proposed constitutional amendment … are ineffective,” the judge wrote.
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The decision hands Republicans a clear win in the fight over control of Virginia’s U.S. House delegation ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Without new maps, the current boundaries stay in place. Those lines have produced a 6-5 Democratic edge in recent cycles.
Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, said his office will appeal the ruling immediately to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Jones won similar appeals against Judge Hurley earlier this year, when the high court allowed the referendum to proceed despite prior blocks.
The case has bounced between courts for months, including in January, when Hurley first ruled against the Democrats’ process.
Eyes on the Supreme Court again
The Supreme Court later cleared the way for the April 21 vote while the legal questions continued. Republicans filed another challenge, and Hurley sided with them again on Wednesday.
Voter turnout in the special election reached about 48% of registered voters, higher than many expected for an off-year redistricting ballot measure. Nearly 3.06 million votes were cast, with the “yes” side edging out the “no” by roughly 89,000 votes.
Democrats had described the amendment as a necessary response to redistricting moves in other states. They said it would let Virginia lawmakers act quickly to protect Democratic seats.
Republicans called it a power grab as they pointed to proposed maps that would pack Republican voters into fewer districts and create safe Democratic seats in others.
GOP leaders said the rushed process skipped required steps and used confusing ballot language that hid the real impact.
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The injunction now freezes everything, meaning election officials cannot certify the results or begin work on new districts. The status quo holds unless the Supreme Court overturns Hurley’s order.
This fight is part of a larger national battle over maps. Both parties have moved to redraw lines mid-decade in states they control when the rules allow it.
Virginia’s current independent redistricting commission would normally handle the next round after the 2030 census.
For now, Republicans keep the advantage of the existing map as Democrats hope their appeal succeeds before the political calendar moves too far.
Whatever the final court outcome, the case clearly shows how both parties treat redistricting as a key tool for controlling the House.
Virginia’s 11 seats could help decide which party holds the majority in Washington after November 2026.
President Donald Trump was recently warned he could be impeached for the third time if Democrats become the House majority after the midterm elections.
