Supreme Court of Virginia Voids Special Election on Gerrymandering

May 8, 2026: Virginia’s Supreme Court has ruled the Special Election to allow gerrymandered congressional maps is voided, citing violations of the Commonwealth’s constitution prior to the vote.

The decision is a blow to VA Assembly Democrats’ bid to gerrymander congressional seats ahead of the midterms. They are not able to draw new congressional maps from the current 6-5 (D-R) configuration to the 10-1 (D-R) map proposals that were at the heart of the Special Election vote — at least, not before the 2026 midterm elections.

The May 8, 2026 release of the ruling by the Supreme Court of Virginia is a huge win for Republican lawmakers who filed multiple legal challenges against assembly Democrats’ rush to send a constitutional referendum to the voters ahead of the midterm elections. The ruling is here and below.

Opinion by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey May 8, 2026 Supreme Court of Virginia 4-3 Ruling
April 21 Special Election:

"Question: Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

EPEC Team Voter News Coverage

Background and Key Dates

March 6, 2026: Early Voting begins on a one-question ballot asking Virginia voters to approve a “temporary” amendment to the state constitution in order to allow Democrats to redraw congressional maps to “restore fairness,” as the ballot question stated.

A “yes” vote would allow Democrats to gerrymander the current 6-5 (D-R) congressional maps to 10-1 (D-R) advantage.

April 21, 2026: Election Day concludes with 1.5 million “yes” votes and 1.4 million “no” votes in the initial summary of results.

April 22, 2026: Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley issues a new order declaring election “void ab initio” (not valid from the start), citing violations of Virginia’s constitution and statutes.

Judge Hurley also ruled the ballot question itself violated the Submission Clause of the Virginia Constitution because “the ballot language proposed in HB 1384 submits to voters a flagrantly misleading question to the voters, and because the ballot language did not accurately describe the proposed amendment as it was passed by the General Assembly.”

April 28, 2026: Virginia’s Supreme Court declines to stay Judge Hurley’s ruling after Attorney General Jay Jones files a motion requesting the Tazewell order be lifted to allow Democrats to start drawing the 10-1 gerrymandered maps. The one-sentence ruling means the Board of Elections is enjoined from certifying the April 21 Special Election votes by the deadline of Friday, May 1st.

May 1, 2026: Virginia’s State Board of Elections meets as scheduled, and takes no action on certification of the April 21, 2026 Special Election “contingent upon a final decision by the Virginia Supreme Court and is subject to removal.” 

May 8, 2026: Supreme Court of Virginia issues a 4-3 ruling that upholds the Tazewell Circuit Court’s prior rulings that the constitutional amendment did not follow the strict requirements under Virginia’s constitution.

The ruling notes:“We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia. This constitutional
violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”

Key Rulings in the Constitutional Challenges

Will Take up Legal Challenges After the Vote, Per Attorney General Request February 13: SCV Agrees to Rule on Constitutional Challenges After the Special Election
Day After the Special Election: Circuit Court Ruling Says Vote Unconstitutional April 22: Tazewell Circuit Court Order Voiding the Special Election
Link to C-Span Audio of SCV Hearing April 27: Supreme Court of VA Hears Oral Arguments on First Round of Appeals
Opinion by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey May 8, 2026 May 8: Supreme Court of Virginia 4-3 Ruling

Highlights

Localities Voting Yes to Allow 10-1 Congressional Maps Favoring Democrats

These are unofficial results.

Total No Votes: 1,486,596

Total Yes Votes: 1,574,809

EPEC Team has discovered that local results do not add up to similar results for the No and Yes votes in the Department of Elections’ Election Night summary data feed (JSON).

But for now, these are the unofficial results being reported on the website.

https://enr.elections.virginia.gov/results/public/virginia/elections/2026-April-21-Special

Early Voting Summary Data by Locality

Although early voting in Virginia’s controversial redistricting vote ended on Saturday, April 18, mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day are still counted if they are received by Friday. EPEC Team has broken out summary data on countable ballots across localities, and how many mail-ins are “still out” ahead of Tuesday’s Special Election on April 21.

Highlights from a Rushed Special Election

  • EPEC Analysis by Rick Naigle summarizes recent analysis of Virginia's 2026 Special Election regarding redistricting, which shows a disparity between how ballots are processed between presumed R and presumed D voters.
By EPEC Team Senior Analyst Rick Naigle Higher Rejection Rates for R-Leaning Ballots Found in Special Election
By Jon Lareau, Executive Director, Volunteer CTO, EPEC Team 6K Mystery Voters on VA's Perm. Absentee List

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