Virginia judge blocks voter-approved redistricting plan

A judge in the Old Dominion state issued a Wednesday ruling to stop Virginia’s plan to redraw congressional districts after the special election on Tuesday. Electors approved the map, which was weighted heavily Democratic, in a referendum vote on Tuesday.

Republicans have been fighting the redistricting effort since January, and the latest order came out of one of at least two lawsuits challenging it. The Wednesday order also marked the third time Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. issued an order to stop the certification of election results authorizing the redistricting plan.

What’s next? Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said he planned to file an appeal to challenge the judge’s ruling. Virginians have spoken, and an activist judge should not be able to veto the will of the people, he wrote on Wednesday. Jones looked forward to defending the outcome of Tuesday’s election, according to the statement.

Virginia is one of several states pushing to redraw congressional maps mid-election cycle. State lawmakers in Texas made headlines last summer for pushing through a new congressional map favoring GOP candidates. California responded in kind, passing a temporary map that was weighted heavily Democratic. Lawmakers in Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio all approved new pro-Republican maps late last year. Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore also established a commission last November to guide lawmakers to draw new district lines before the midterms.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report in WORLD Magazine about the legality of gerrymandering.