Virginia Democrats ask US supreme court to revive voter-approved electoral map

Virginia Democrats asked the US supreme court on Monday to revive a congressional map designed to boost their party’s chances in November’s midterm elections, turning to the court as Republicans – including allies of Donald Trump – seek to preserve narrow control of Congress.

The case thrusts Virginia into an unusual, mid-decade redistricting showdown, as courts weigh whether lawmakers can remake House districts outside the normal post-census cycle – with control of a narrowly divided Congress potentially hanging in the balance.

Virginia’s top court on 8 May threw out a new electoral map that had been crafted to flip four Republican-held US congressional seats to Democrats, dealing a setback to Democratic hopes of retaking the US House. Republicans also hold a majority in the US Senate.

In a four-three decision, the Virginia supreme court rejected a Democratic-backed ballot measure approved by voters in April that reconfigured the state’s US House map for partisan advantage.

Ruling in favor of a Republican challenge, the court’s majority found that Democratic lawmakers had not followed proper procedure last year when they rushed to approve the referendum in time to reach the ballot ahead of the November vote.

The Virginia Democrats, led by Don Scott, the Democratic speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, told the justices in a filing that the state court’s ruling has “deprived voters, candidates, and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts”.

The lawmakers cited a 2023 supreme court ruling that warned that state courts “may not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that they arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections”.

In a process called redistricting, the boundaries of legislative districts across the US are reconfigured to reflect population changes as measured by the national US census every 10 years. Redistricting traditionally has been carried out by state legislatures at the start of each new decade.

In the unusual mid-decade redistricting fight, Republicans now hold a clear advantage. The tit-for-tat battle began last year when Trump pushed Texas Republicans to rip up their electoral map and draw new district lines that aim to flip up to five Democratic-held seats to Republicans.

Democrats suffered a major blow when the US supreme court’s conservative six-three majority gutted a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, opening the door for Republican-led southern states to dismantle Democratic-held majority-Black and majority-Latino districts. Black and Latino voters tend to support Democratic candidates.