(By Virginia Grace McKinnon/Daily Signal) –  The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled against the Democrats’ effort to redraw the state’s maps.

In April, Virginians voted to pass a new map which would have likely taken away four seats from Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now the state supreme court has ruled the Democrat-backed referendum “null and void.”

“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void. For this reason, the congressional district maps issued by this Court in 2021 pursuant to Article II, Section 6-A of the Constitution of Virginia remain the governing maps for the upcoming 2026 congressional elections,” the court’s opinion ruled.

The opinion called the Democrats’ effort “partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts in the Commonwealth.”

🚨BREAKING

The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the redistricting ballot initiative. Why? Because the Democrats ignored the plain text of the Virginia Constitution.

🧵1/4 pic.twitter.com/DvFGlFUvfd

— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) May 8, 2026

The state’s Attorney General Jay Jones said in a statement, “This decision silences the voices of the millions of Virginians who cast their ballots in every corner of the Commonwealth, and it fuels the growing fears across our nation about the state of our democracy.”

Jones believes the Virginia Supreme Court “contorted the plain language of the Constitution” and called the ruling a “wrong legal conclusion that fit their political agenda.”

“My team is carefully reviewing this unprecedented order and we are evaluating every legal pathway forward to defend the will of the people and protect the integrity of Virginia’s elections,” Jones stated.