For the second time, Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that voters can cast ballots on a Democrat-led congressional redistricting plan that could help the party win four more U.S. House seats, as the justices review legal challenges to the effort.
The court ruled that a statewide referendum can be held on April 21 on whether to authorize mid-decade redistricting. It comes after the court made a similar ruling last month in a related case.
The court still has not ruled on whether the mid-decade redistricting amendment and referendum are legal, indicating that the scheduled April vote could be all for nothing if the top court upholds a lower court ruling blocking the effort. Early voting on the referendum is supposed to begin Friday.
President Donald Trump launched an unusual mid-decade redistricting battle last year by pushing Republican officials in Texas to redraw districts to help his party win more seats. The goal was for the GOP to hold on to a narrow House majority in the face of political headwinds that typically favor the party out of power in midterms.
Instead, it created a burst of redistricting efforts nationwide. So far, Republicans believe they can win nine more House seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats think they can win six more seats in California and Utah, and are hoping to fully or partially make up the remaining three-seat margin in Virginia.
In February, Virginia Democrats released a new congressional map that aims to give their party four more seats. Since then, the Democratic-led legislature passed the proposed map and Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the document into law.
Still, the map only goes into effect if it’s backed by voters and the top court.
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia have sought to portray their redistricting push as a response to Trump’s overreach. Republicans have sounded aghast at the proposed district map, describing it as a way for liberals in northern Virginia to commandeer the rest of the state.