2026 Virginia redistricting amendment

2020 amendment In 2020, Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment giving the power to draw congressional districts in the state to a bipartisan commission, which is composed of eight legislators and eight citizens. First passage of amendment legislation In 2025, Texas lawmakers adopted a new congressional map, which is expected to grant Republicans as many as five additional congressional seats. Other states followed suit with their own redistricting plans. On October 28, four Democratic Virginia Delegates introduced the redistricting constitutional amendment. On the same day, Jason Miyares, the Republican Attorney General of Virginia who was also running for a second term in 2025, issued an opinion saying that the process required to add a constitutional amendment to the ballot cannot be shortened by the General Assembly calling a special session during an ongoing election. On October 29, the Virginia House of Delegates passed the amendment in a 51–42 vote on party lines. Before the vote took place, there was contentious debate, and the Sergeant-at-Arms was called to the floor at one point. The bill then moved on to the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee, which approved the bill in an 8–6 vote the same day. The Senate passed the bill 21–16 on October 31, sending it to the 164th General Assembly for further consideration. Second passage Virginia Democrats retained and expanded their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates in the 2025 election, in addition to flipping all three executive offices. Upon winning the trifecta, Virginia Democrats intended to re-approve the amendment and send it to a referendum for voter's consideration. Upon approval of the referendum, the amendment and approved map would take effect prior to the 2026 congressional elections. As the amendment needed to be passed a second time, Governor Spanberger signed enabling legislation for the referendum on February 4. == Litigation ==

On October 28, 2025, a lawsuit was filed in Tazewell County Circuit Court against the House and Senate clerks, seeking an injunction against the effort. The lawsuit argued that the purpose of the special session was to settle a budget dispute in 2024, and although the session was still technically open, the new bill was outside of the scope of the session, making it invalid. Delegate Terry Kilgore, state Senators Bill Stanley and Ryan McDougle, and a citizen member of the commonwealth's bipartisan redistricting commission were named as plaintiffs. The lawsuit was initially delayed, as the case's judge, Jack Hurley Jr., declined to intervene in legislative proceedings until the General Assembly had passed the amendment, resulting in Republican plaintiffs temporarily dropping the case. Judge Hurley ran for the Virginia House of Delegates in 1999 as a Republican. Following the General Assembly's re-passage of the amendment to the ballot in January 2026, the case was expanded to request a ruling on all of the following: • Whether or not the General Assembly was able to pass a constitutional amendment during a special session not called to consider it; • Whether or not the General Assembly had violated a statutory mandate which requires it to post any proposed constitutional amendment at circuit clerk offices for public inspection at least 90 days before the election on which it would be voted on; • Whether or not the General Assembly's first passage had actually met the requirement to pass the amendment both before and after a general election, as early voting had started over a month prior to the first passage. Hurley ordered both parties to submit briefs within 10 days. On January 27, Hurley ruled that the amendment was unlawful, concurring both that the special session did not have the authority to pass such a measure and that the House of Delegates scheduled the election too early to satisfy the postage requirement. Hurley noted that, by the time of the 163rd Virginia General Assembly's first passage of the redistricting amendment, over 1 million Virginians had already voted for the general election, over 33% of total turnout. For this, he agreed on the third and final question posed by the Republican plaintiffs, that being that the amendment did not sufficiently pass scrutiny for having been passed "before the general election." The ruling blocked the amendment from going before voters. Virginia Democratic leaders condemned the decision and announced an intention to appeal the ruling, with House Speaker Don Scott calling the case an example of “court-shopping, plain and simple." They also pointed out that the postage requirement was removed whenever Virginia adopted their current constitution, and is only still in effect because of an oversight in the state code. which would repeal the 90-day postage requirement before the election and redirect the appellate process from the Court of Appeals of Virginia to the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, which denied to block the 163rd General Assembly from passing the same amendment in November 2025. However, the House of Delegates did not take up this bill. On February 18, the Republican National Committee filed a separate lawsuit, also in Tazewell county, asking for an emergency injunction to halt voting. The next day, February 19, Judge Hurley granted that motion, barring state officials from "administering, preparing for, taking any action to further the procedure of the referendum, or otherwise moving forward with causing an election to be held on the proposed constitutional amendment", citing the phrase "restore fairness" in the ballot language as misleading and unconstitutional. On March 4, the Virginia Supreme Court stayed that ruling, allowing early voting to begin on March 6. Briefs on the lawsuit were due to the Virginia Supreme Court two days after the April 21 election, and oral arguments were held the following Monday. On April 22, Hurley issued a final order of judgment, ruling that the House bill that authorized the referendum was void ab initio as it violated two resolutions of the General Assembly, portions of the Virginia State Code, and the Constitution of Virginia. Hurley also permanently enjoined the State Board of Elections from certifying the results of the referendum and blocked the State Board from executing any changes that would be required to instate a new congressional map. Attorney General of Virginia Jay Jones appealed the ruling, however SCOVA declined to enter a stay blocking it from coming into effect. The State Board of Elections was therefore unable to certify the results at its May 1, 2026, meeting. == Contents and amendment ==

Ballot wording The ballot wording was as follows:''Question: Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia's standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?'' Proposed changes The referendum proposed to voters that the constitution be amended to read: Replacement map On February 20, 2026, the Virginia General Assembly passed and Governor Spanberger signed legislation drawing a new congressional map for Virginia, The University of Virginia Center for Politics believed that two of the Democratic-favored districts could potentially be competitive for Republicans, and described the map as "baconmandered", where strongly-Democratic Northern Virginia was cut up across multiple districts stretching to the rest of the state. and Fairfax County, which would have gone from three congressional districts to five. Sabato's Crystal Ball rated the putative 9th district as Safe Republican, the putative 2nd district as Tossup, the putative 6th district as Leans Democrat, the putative 5th district as Likely Democrat, and the putative 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th districts as Safe Democratic. ;2021 gubernatorial election ;2024 presidential election ==Campaign==

The campaign was the most expensive for any ballot measure in Virginia's history, with over $83 million spent during the campaign. As of April 16, $93 million had been raised, with 95% of funding raised by dark money groups not required to disclose their donors. Support As of April 6, the main Democratic-aligned group supporting the referendum, Virginians for Fair Elections, had raised $64 million, including $40 million from House Majority Forward, a group aligned with House Democratic leaders; $12 million from the Fairness Project; and $5 million from the Fund for Policy Reform, founded by George Soros. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine contributed $100,000 through their leadership PACs. Opposition in Buchanan, Virginia. As of April 6, the main Republican-aligned group opposing the referendum, Virginians for Fair Maps, had raised around $20 million, By April 6, the group had spent $4.8 million in advertising. The group utilized imagery from the civil rights movement and of the KKK in its advertising, alleging that the amendment would lead to "black and brown voices silenced". It also sent mailers implying that former president Barack Obama opposed the amendment. The NAACP and civil rights leaders condemned the ads as misinformation. Sign stealing Both pro- and anti-amendment signs were stolen. In Isle of Wight County, for example, the chairman of the county's Republican chapter reported that more than 50 opposition signs were stolen, and the county's Democratic chapter reported that several signs in support were stolen. In Petersburg, a surveillance camera recorded an individual stealing a "Vote No" sign. ==Endorsements==

Support Arguments in favor of the measure included that it intended to counteract other states that had gerrymandered their congressional maps, that it was a temporary change, and that voters decided whether to redistrict, rather than only politicians. Opposition Arguments in opposition included that it was a partisan gerrymander, that rural and conservative voters would have their voice diluted, and that Virginia voters already decided on the issue in 2020, approving a bipartisan commission. ==Polling==

By county and independent city == See also ==