"The court ruled that the state's Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when it placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorise the mid-decade redistricting. Voters narrowly approved the amendment on April 21, but the court's ruling renders the results of that vote meaningless. This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void, the court said in its opinion."
"Democrats had hoped to win as many as four additional US House seats under Virginia's redrawn map, as part of an attempt to offset Republican redistricting elsewhere at the urging of President Donald Trump. That ruling, combined with a recent US Supreme Court decision severely weakening the Voting Rights Act, has supercharged the Republicans' congressional gerrymandering advantage heading into this year's midterm elections."
"In its ruling, the Virginia court agreed with Republican claims that the state's Democratic-majority legislature did not follow proper procedure in approving the referendum before it was put to the voters. A day after the referendum, a county judge blocked the state from certifying the results, calling the ballot language flagrantly misleading."
"Trump reacted to the decision on Truth Social, calling it a huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia. The ruling could bolster Republican hopes of keeping their majority in the US House in the midterms."
Virginia’s top court struck down a redistricting plan intended to change congressional boundaries and potentially flip four Republican-held US House seats to Democrats. The court ruled 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 declared the referendum results meaningless. The decision undermines the integrity of the referendum vote and renders it null and void. The ruling strengthens Republicans’ gerrymandering advantage ahead of the November midterm elections, following a US Supreme Court decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act. The court also agreed with claims that proper procedure was not followed before the referendum was approved by voters.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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