by Ken Reid

The Republican National Committee (RNC), and Virginia U.S. House Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-9, and Ben Cline, R-6, announced Feb. 18 a second challenge to the Democrat-controlled General Assembly’s April 21 ballot measure to suspend bipartisan redistricting – which passed in 2020 by a roughly 65-35 margin – so the GA can gerrymander Virginia’s 11 congressional districts to give Democrats a 10-1 advantage (vs. a 6-5 edge now).

A circuit court judge in Tazewell County, where the suit was filed, issued an injunction to stop the State Board of Elections from going forward with any work to prepare for the special election.

The GOP suit raises several new legal and constitutional objections to the referendum, some of which are comprehensible only to lawyers, but at least one of which any voter can understand. Specifically, is the reference to “fairness” in the referendum legal?

Here is the language that will appear on the ballot:  

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?

Talk about loaded language! Who could possibly oppose “fairness” in elections? A better question: “fair” to whom? Nowhere does the amendment hint that the proposed new congressional districts are designed to elect 10 Democrats and one Republican (9% representation) in a state where Republicans won 47.6% of the congressional vote.

The latest RNC suit states, the referendum, if anything, “destroys fairness, is the product of unfairness and is intended to increase unfairness. It does not ‘restore fairness’ to allow for the creation of “[a] map of districts” that “unduly favor[s]” the Democratic “political party.”  

RNC adds: “The phrase ‘restore fairness’ is confusing and misleading. It is an argumentative statement in favor of the amendment. And it presupposes that Virginia’s current congressional districts are unfair, an assertion that is both legally and factually inaccurate.

“Virginia’s current congressional districts are fair as a matter of law because they were drawn by the Supreme Court of Virginia, and because they achieve fairness as defined by Virginia Code §24.2-304.04(8).

The suit adds: “The phrase “restore fairness” is thus a misleading argument in favor of the amendment, not an accurate description of it. ‘It does not ‘restore fairness’ to replace a nonpartisan redistricting process through an independent commission with a partisan one through a body that is made up of a majority of only one political party. And it does not ‘restore fairness’ to submit a proposed constitutional amendment to Virginia voters that is a “blatant abuse of power.”  

RNC also said the second passage of the redistricting suspension on Jan. 16 does not meet the requirement the referendum of voters be 90 days or more after GA passage. That’s because early voting on the amendment begins March 6, not March 16. 

Virginia courts have held (in multiple election‑related cases) that ballot language must be:

• not argumentative,
• not leading,
• not written to push voters toward a yes or no,
• not framed in partisan or emotional terms.

Summarizes Microsoft CoPilot: “The standard is essentially: Would a reasonable voter understand the question without being nudged toward a particular answer?”

Another baffling facet of the Democrats’ referendum language is that it suspends bipartisan redistricting until the 2030 census, instead of doing an outright repeal.

Nowhere in the Virginia Constitution can I find an amendment that suspends another amendment. How can bipartisan redistricting or any amendment to the state constitution be suspended for just a few years without a revote by the electorate?

Article I. Bill of Rights, Section 7 of our state constitution is entitled: “Laws should not be suspended.”  It reads: That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.

I guess suspending a constitutional amendment is allowed in Virginia because neither the senators nor RNC suit contested that, but the wording of the referendum implies bipartisan redistricting will be restored in 2030.

That is false. Census data might not be ready for 2030’s House elections. This means the gerrymandered maps Democrats devise, if the referendum passes, would be in effect for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 House elections, and voters are not being informed of that.    

Hopefully, the injunction will not be vacated by a higher court – I am sure the Democrats will appeal it – and that briefs will be filed by both sides before March 1 so the courts can determine if the referendum can go forward, or not.

Ken Reid, a resident of the Tysons/Falls Church area in Fairfax County, served 10 years in local elected office in Loudoun County and in recent months has been fighting antisemitism in the DC region as DC/MD/VA chapter leader for the group, EndJewHatred.com.