The Virginia General Assembly on Jan. 16 passed an amendment to the state Constitution that would allow legislators to redraw district maps for congressional elections.
The amendment will now be presented to Virginia’s voters in a referendum, which will likely be scheduled in April. Should a majority of voters approve the amendment, it would come into force and allow the General Assembly to enact new congressional maps valid until October 2030. That means the maps would be effective in this year’s congressional elections.
The Senate also passed three constitutional amendments that would create fundamental rights in Virginia to seek an abortion, marry persons of the same sex, and vote after serving a prison sentence for a felony conviction.
This was the second time the General Assembly passed these amendments. Under Virginia’s constitution, amendments must be passed by the General Assembly twice, with a general election intervening between the votes, and then be presented to voters in a referendum for their approval.
The Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus released a statement praising the amendments but omitted reference to the redistricting proposal.
Should referendum voters pass the redistricting amendment, the maps will likely be redrawn to ensure that Democrats have an advantage in more congressional seats. At present, Republicans represent five and Democrats six of Virginia’s 11 seats in the U.S. House.
The vote to redraw the maps comes after several states—such as Texas and California—have enacted laws to redraw congressional seats in favor of the party ruling the state. The vote also came one day before Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) was to be inaugurated as the 75th Governor of Virginia.