Court pauses redistricting in Virginia, day after voters approve new maps

A Virginia judge on Wednesday paused the certification of referendum results that would lead to redrawing the state's congressional map.

Virginians approved a measure on Tuesday to change district lines, possibly helping Democrats win control of the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections.

The court deemed the new map and the bill that triggered it unconstitutional, following a lawsuit from the Republican National Committee. The state has said it will appeal.

The state is the latest in a national redistricting race that began after President Donald Trump urged conservative states to re-examine voting maps to help Republicans keep their congressional majority.

Each of the state's newly drawn districts could have a role in deciding which political party takes the House, the lower chamber of Congress. The midterms, which decide who controls Congress, take place in November and Virginia's redistricting could help Democrats win as many as four House seats currently held by Republicans.

The balance of power in the House now stands at 217 Republicans, 212 Democrats, and one independent, who caucuses with Republicans. The latest margins come after the death of a Democrat in Georgia was announced on Wednesday.

Historically, the party of the sitting president tends to lose House seats during the midterms. If Democrats win the House in this November's contest race, it will not only serve a blow to Trump's political agenda, but it could open him up to Democratic-led congressional investigations.

In the US, gerrymandering - the redrawing of electoral boundaries to favour a political party - is only illegal if it is based on race.

Trump on Wednesday claimed without evidence that cheating took place in Virginia's election. "A RIGGED ELECTION TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT," he posted on social media, echoing false claims he has made about the 2020 presidential race.

"All day long Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive 'Mail In Ballot Drop!'"

US investigators have never unearthed any evidence of widespread voter fraud, including in the mail-in ballot system.

Trump, a Republican, had previously predicted that if Democrats win in Virginia, "it's going to be a disaster."

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, said in a statement on X that voters "pushed back against a President who claims he is 'entitled' to more Republican seats in Congress.

"As we watched other states go along with those demands without voter input, Virginians refused to let that stand. We responded the right way: at the ballot box."

States usually redraw their voting maps once every decade after new population data is released as part of the US Census.

Texas became the first state to launch a mid-decade change, under pressure from Trump, setting off a race for other states to alter their maps to help their respective political parties.

California voters approved new maps in a special referendum in November, giving Democrats an edge in five new districts.

Other Republican-led states have changed their maps, too. North Carolina and Missouri also passed new maps that give the party an edge.

Utah passed a new map with court-imposed districts that could give Democrats an advantage in one district.