Virginians projected to approve Democrats’ redistricting push ahead of midterms

State Navigate projected that Virginians have approved a constitutional amendment to allow Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional districts as part of a national effort to push back on Republican partisan gerrymandering in other states.

Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow state Democrats to redraw congressional districts to help their party win more seats in the upcoming midterm elections, according to projections from multiple outlets that project election outcomes.

State Navigate, a polling and analysis nonprofit, and Decision Desk HQ projected that the statewide referendum would pass shortly after 8:20pm. While the “No” vote had the lead when pollsters projected the outcome, the locations and size of the remaining vote indicated that the “Yes” vote would take the lead when the remaining localities reported their results.

Democrats’ proposal, which could see them gain up to four seats in the US House, came after President Donald Trump successfully pressured Republicans in Republican-led states to redraw their congressional districts. Redistricting usually occurs at the end of the decade to reflect census data but Republicans pursued redistricting in the middle of the decade to help the GOP in this fall’s midterms.

As Republicans began redrawing their maps to tilt elections in their favor, Democrats in California and here in Virginia said they felt no choice but to follow suit as a means of fighting back.

“Tonight, Virginians did what Virginians have always done: they answered a question about the nature of our democracy, and they answered it in favor of the people,” Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said in a statement.