Virginia Supreme Court Correctly Struck Down Unconstitutional Democratic Gerrymander
Source: Breccan F. Thies. "Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Democrat Gerrymander." May 8, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that Virginia's Supreme Court made the right decision when it threw out a Democratic redistricting plan. The Democrats broke the rules by waiting until the last minute to pass their proposal, which prevented voters from having a fair say in the process.
Conclusion
The Virginia Supreme Court was correct to strike down the Democratic gerrymander because Democrats violated constitutional procedural requirements for referendum passage
Premises
- Virginia's constitution requires proposed amendments be passed by two separate legislatures with an intervening election to allow voter input
- Democrats waited until 4 days before Election Day to pass the referendum, after 1.3 million votes had already been cast
- This timing violated the 'intervening election' requirement that gives voters opportunity to vote for/against delegates based on their amendment positions
- The proposed amendment would have allowed extreme partisan gerrymandering, reducing Republican representation from 5 to 1 seats
- Early voters were unconstitutionally disenfranchised by being unable to consider the amendment when casting their votes
- The court followed proper precedent by allowing the process to complete before reviewing constitutional violations
Assumptions
- Constitutional procedural requirements should be strictly followed regardless of political outcomes
- Voter disenfranchisement occurs when people cannot make informed choices about representatives' positions on amendments
- The timing of legislative actions can invalidate otherwise legitimate democratic processes
- Courts should intervene to protect constitutional processes even when overturning popular vote results