by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 23, 2026

One day after Democrats thought they had secured four new seats in the House via the Virginia redistricting vote, Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley on Wednesday ruled the referendum unconstitutional.

Hurley barred state election officials from modifying election districts or proceeding with the new maps, calling the ballot language put to voters “flagrantly misleading.”

The question voters faced in the referendum was the following: “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?”

In large part due to anti-Trump leftists in Northern Virginia, the referendum was narrowly approved on Tuesday. The new map would give Democrats an advantage in 10 of the state’s 11 U.S. House seats. Currently, Democrats have six of the Virginia seats and Republicans five.

“The Judge entered an injunction blocking certification of the election & denied a motion to stay pending appeal. A final order will be entered once drafted, & it will be immediately appealed,” former Virginia Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said on X after Hurley’s ruling.

Because the judge denied a motion to stay, his ruling takes effect immediately.

Cuccinelli, who heads the American Principles Project Election Transparency Initiative, indicated Wednesday there are four constitutional challenges to the referendum making their way through the courts, three of which are challenges to the amendment process itself.

“The ‘yes’ folks probably are going to look back at Tuesday and think that was the easy part because they have so badly violated several constitutional provisions,” Cuccinelli told “The Scott Jennings Show.”

Cuccinelli added that there are other “equally difficult” constitutional challenges Democrats are facing in this legal battle, which he said he expects to move quickly through the courts. Cuccinelli told Jennings he expects a final ruling on the matter by May.

Three of the lawsuits challenge the referendum on procedural grounds, arguing that Democrat Party lawmakers didn’t follow the law regarding timing requirements and legislative steps when passing the measure to place it on the ballot.

The fourth argument is about how the electoral districts were drawn and challenges the maps on contiguity requirements.

Democrats, who have used the courts many times in an attempt to block Republican initiatives, immediately complained when Republicans challenged the Virginia referendum in court.

Shortly after news of the circuit court ruling in Tazewell, the state’s Democrat attorney general, Jay Jones, announced his office would be immediately appealing the ruling. Jones argued that “an activist judge” should not have the power to veto “the People’s vote.”

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  ‘Flagrantly misleading’: Judge rules Virginia redistricting referendum unconstitutional, WorldTribune.com