AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The Virginia Supreme Court has delivered a striking blow to Democrats in the redistricting battle that they are waging against Republicans. Today, the court ruled that last month's voter referendum in Virginia, which allowed Democrats to shift four congressional districts their way, violated the state constitution. To explain this ruling, we're joined now by Jahd Khalil of VPM in Richmond. Hi, Jahd.
JAHD KHALIL, BYLINE: Hi. How are you?
CHANG: Good. OK so explain what the specific legal challenge was here.
KHALIL: So there were a few legal challenges that were under consideration by the court, but they only ruled on one.
CHANG: OK.
KHALIL: And that was enough to nullify the election. So at issue was how the question was placed on the ballot by Democratic lawmakers. So to place an item on the ballot, it needs to pass twice on either side of an election. And that election in the middle was really the part that this decision turned on. Democrats put this on the ballot after early voting had already started last year, and the justices said that that undercut the purpose of that part of the process.
CHANG: Wait, wait, so the entire vote last month was just nullified?
KHALIL: That's right.
CHANG: OK, remind us about that vote and its outcome.
KHALIL: So about 3 million people voted. The result was 52 to 48, so it was a somewhat narrow win for Democrats. And this sort of dominated the states for months in terms of politics. It was sort of the lifeblood for, I'd say, probably the last six weeks of politics here in Virginia.
CHANG: Help us understand. If this was just about process, why did this ruling come after the referendum vote? - like, after 3 million people voted.
KHALIL: Right, so a lot of this has to do because the yes side - so this is the Democrats - asked the justices to delay it until after the election so the election could be held. And in their ruling, the - in their opinion, the justices - the majority said that the margin of victory didn't really matter, and it was the process that was - that had a problem.
CHANG: Right. OK, so what's been the reaction so far from both Republicans and Democrats?
KHALIL: So that victory in the vote was the focus of a lot of the Democratic responses, and they said, you know, broadly that this overturned the popular will. They were kind of varied in different ways. So some Democrats said that they'll try to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and others have - are just looking forward to the midterms. With the old map, Democrats could still pick up one or two seats, so that's sort of interesting.
But Republicans, on the other hand, are celebrating, as you might have guessed. It's a victory for them. Virginia State Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle said that it showed that they've been right from the beginning when then they were - when they were saying that you can't violate the Constitution to change the Constitution.
CHANG: OK. Well, as you know, Jahd, a lot has been happening on the redistricting front the last couple weeks. How does this decision in Virginia affect the overall scoreboard, so to speak?
KHALIL: Right, so I think this is kind of a gut punch for Democrats. Like we said earlier, it could have got them four seats. It's also a lot of money that they spent on this campaign that they could have been spending on the midterms - not just in Virginia, but other places. I think, just to go back, President Trump started this battle last year in July. But after the Virginia vote, Democrats were actually in the lead, if we were counting score in terms of the seats that were shifted towards them.
CHANG: Right.
KHALIL: But last week, Florida passed a new map that's favoring Republicans, and the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act. So that opens the door for Republican-led states in the South to do more redistricting. So, you know, before this, Democrats might have been in the lead. After this and after VRA, the Republicans are probably in the lead.
CHANG: All right, that is Jahd Khalil of VPM. Thank you, Jahd.
KHALIL: Thank you so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
