Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Dems' redrawn US House maps, giving Republicans a win

"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 the mid-decade redistricting. Voters narrowly approved the amendment April 21, but the court's ruling renders the results of that vote meaningless."

"Democrats had hoped to win as many as four additional U.S. House seats under Virginia's redrawn U.S. House map as part of an attempt to offset Republican redistricting done elsewhere at the urging of President Donald Trump. That ruling, combined with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision severely weakening the Voting Rights Act, has supercharged the Republicans' congressional gerrymandering advantage heading into this year's midterm elections."

"Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade after each census to account for population changes. But Trump started an unusual flurry of mid-decade redistricting last year when he encouraged Republican officials in Texas to redraw districts in a bid to win sever"

The Virginia Supreme Court struck down a Democratic congressional redistricting plan approved by voters. The court ruled 4-3 that the Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when it placed a constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorize mid-decade redistricting. Voters narrowly approved the amendment on April 21, but the ruling made that vote null and void. The majority said the amendment was submitted to voters in an unprecedented manner, irreparably undermining the integrity of the referendum. Democrats sought additional U.S. House seats from Virginia’s redrawn map to counter Republican redistricting elsewhere. The decision, along with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act, strengthened Republican gerrymandering advantages heading into the midterms.

Read at Boston.com