Despite weeks of confusion, Virginians will begin voting on redistricting referendum Friday

Starting Friday, Virginians will head to the polls for the first day of early voting on a redistricting referendum. If passed, it could send a blue wave through the state.

Despite weeks of confusion caused by the GOP’s attempts to block the vote, the Virginia Supreme Court has now twice affirmed a go-ahead for the redistricting referendum, choosing to weigh in on the legality of the referendum after voters head to the polls.

Following successful GOP efforts in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to establish new Republican congressional seats, Virginia Democrats hope to counter President Donald Trump’s calls for gerrymandering to safeguard the Republican majority in the U.S. House.

Joining California, Virginia is the second Democratic-led state to pursue new congressional maps to offset the GOP’s mid-decade gerrymandering effort, which was initiated by Trump.

If approved by Virginia voters, the constitutional amendment could allow state lawmakers to adopt a new map that could give Democrats four more seats in Congress. 

The special election over the new map has been defined by multiple GOP-initiated lawsuits. Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s happened so far and what Virginians can expect as they head to the polls tomorrow.

As part of their plan to head off the new Virginia map, state and national Republicans filed five lawsuits challenging both procedural and substantive aspects of the referendum. 

Two lawsuits filed by state lawmakers and local officials challenged the legality of the General Assembly’s first vote to move the constitutional amendment towards a statewide vote. One lawsuit was dismissed, but in the other, a judge ruled that the first vote by the legislative body was null and void. 

Two lawsuits specifically challenged the referendum ballot language – one suit filed by the Republican National Committee is pending before the state Supreme Court, and another filed by Republican state lawmakers is still being litigated in the trial court. Both lawsuits took issue with the language of the ballot question, claiming it lacked a neutral tone and could confuse voters.

If passed, the referendum would allow the Virginia General Assembly to “temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring the Virginia standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census,” according to the ballot language.

Despite initial lower court orders in favor of Republicans, the Virginia State Supreme Court has affirmed the referendum will appear on ballots in all counties starting Friday.

February was marked with uncertainty between the state and county boards of elections after the RNC sought to halt preparations on the referendum vote with its initial lawsuit.

When Tazewell County asked for clarification on what to do, Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. ordered the Virginia State Board of Elections, the Department of Elections and Tazewell County local election officials to cease all referendum preparation in the county.

Hurley’s order ignited confusion for election administrators across the state and up until yesterday, county election officials had been preparing for the special election without the help of state officials.

But as of Wednesday afternoon, the amendment will be on all county ballots, including Tazewell: a reliably conservative county that was almost the only county barred from voting on the referendum by Republicans themselves.

The Virginia Supreme Court held that Hurley went too far by stopping the redistricting referendum in Tazewell County. The ruling marked the second time in recent weeks that the state’s highest court halted attempts to stop the referendum from moving forward.

The Virginia Supreme Court’s order “means that the Department of Elections (and Tazewell County) can move forward with its preparations for the April 21 referendum,” the Virginia Department of Elections said in a statement to Democracy Docket Thursday.

Aside from the legal saga, this special election has been costly for lobbying groups of both parties, with Democrats leading the charge.

Democrats have poured over $20 million into funding Virginians for Fair Elections with House Majority Forward and The Fairness Project contributing around $10 million each, according to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). 

Former President Barack Obama Thursday announced his support urging residents of the Commonwealth to vote “yes” on the ballot question.

“This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall,” Obama said in the video posted on X.

Conversely, VPAP shows nearly $300,000 from Republican-aligned donors for the GOP lobbying group, Virginians for Fair Maps.

Early voting starts tomorrow and voting day for the special election is April 21.