Virginia judge blocks redistricting plan over procedural violations News
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Virginia judge blocks redistricting plan over procedural violations

A Virginia judge on Tuesday ruled that the state’s legislature violated its own procedural rules and state constitutional requirements in passing a recent redistricting amendment. A permanent injunction was issued, blocking the amendment from moving forward.

The decision by Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack Hurley declared all legislative actions on the proposed amendment void from the beginning. The most significant violation involved the legislature’s own procedural rules. House Joint Resolution 6001, which passed 99-0 in the House and 39-1 in the Senate, required either unanimous consent or a two-thirds majority to expand the 2024 Special Session’s scope, which only allows bills for a limited number of items.

Democrats later voted strictly along party lines to expand the Special Session’s scope and added redistricting to the session’s agenda, contravening procedural rules. Tuesday’s ruling stated: “This blatant abuse of power by a majority ignores their own rules and resolutions thereby trampling any and all procedural rights of the minority.”

Tuesday’s ruling centers on House Joint Resolution 6007, which Virginia Democrats passed to enable congressional redistricting before the 2026 midterm elections. The resolution would have allowed the redrawing of congressional and state legislative district maps outside of the normal cycle, which is currently prohibited by the state constitution.

Tuesday’s order also addressed when Virginia’s general election occurs. The state constitution requires an intervening election between the first and second passage of proposed amendments. Democrats passed the redistricting resolution in October 2025, after early voting had begun in September. The decision rejects arguments that only the actual election day itself constitutes “the election,” noting that over one million Virginia residents had already voted by the time of the October resolution.

The ruling stated: “For this Court to find that the election was only on November 4, 2025, those one million Virginia voters would be completely disenfranchised.” Tuesday’s order additionally found that Democrats failed to comply with Virginia Code Section 30-13 publication requirements, which mandate that proposed amendments are posted at courthouses at least three months before elections.

Democratic leaders vowed an immediate appeal, calling the ruling an abuse of the legal process. This developing situation follows similar Republican-led redistricting efforts in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina.

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