Students react to Va. Supreme Court shutdown of voter-approved redistricting

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled May 8 in a 4-3 decision that the Democratic-led redistricting plan approved by voters in the April 21 special election did not follow proper constitutional procedure, nullifying Virginia citizens’ narrow vote. The Virginia Supreme Court stated that the General Assembly approved the redistricting amendment on the ballot — which would have allowed the Democratic-led legislature to bypass the bipartisan redistricting commission and draw new state lines before the 2030 census — too late.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision May 15. The decision marks a Republican victory in the ongoing bipartisan battle for House seats ahead of the November midterm elections.

The May 8 ruling struck down redistricting on a procedural violation — the “intervening election” interfered with the first vote by the House of Delegates, breaking procedural requirements for the amendment to pass.

The Cavalier Daily spoke with seven University undergraduate students about their thoughts on the Virginia Supreme Court decision. Six of the students voted in the April 21 election, while one did not. All seven students said they are planning to vote in November’s midterm elections.

Regarding students’ reactions to the substance of the ruling, some students expressed that if the law was broken — as the ruling details with the procedural violation in the process of the amendment’s approval — then the redistricting plan should not be passed.

Rising fourth-year College student Beckett Smith is an in-state student, and he said he voted in the April special election. Smith said he voted because he was working for a campaign and was passionate about the redistricting issue.

“There [were] a lot of arguments about the national issues, but to me, it was a state-level issue,” Smith said.

Smith said he believes the Virginia Supreme Court made the “right decision” to block the redistricting plan. Smith also said he is “pretty happy” about the ruling because the process of passing the redistricting plan was not lawful in accordance with the Virginia Constitution.

Rising second-year College student Benjamin Muhlendorf, another in-state student, said he did not vote in the April election due to a registration issue. Muhlendorf said he believes the merits of the Virginia Supreme Court ruling are “well-founded.”

“Even if I vote on something, if the premise of the ballot … is unconstitutional, then I completely understand why they would overturn that,” Muhlendorf said. “I think that’s something that has to be accepted as a fair part of the balance of power in a state legislature.”

As for how the ruling might affect midterm elections in November, Muhlendorf said he believes the ruling will be a subject of both parties’ campaigns. Ultimately, however, Muhlendorf said he does not think the ruling will have a major impact in November.

“The Democrat Party will probably say it was a miscarriage of justice and that the voters are being stifled. I think Republicans will say that it’s about preserving law and order,” Muhlendorf said. “I don’t really think that it’s going to have an impact … I find in practice that a lot of people just don’t actually change their views ever.”

Muhlendorf said he encourages individuals to read the opinion of the court rather than receiving information from one source or a few congressmen.

In his 46-page majority opinion, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey of the Virginia Supreme Court discussed topics like the importance of judicial review and strict compliance with the constitution. Muhlendorf said he read this opinion and often reads other related federal court opinions to understand the context behind rulings.

“We do live in a system of checks and balances, and the judiciary is one of those three, and arguably one of the more important ones, because of the amount of regulation that they do over overreach of the other two branches,” Muhlendorf said. “People should actually read the court opinions if they have time, before they completely make up their mind about whether or not the decision was justified.”

Further, students expressed that although they understand there were procedural issues with the ruling, the ruling may create doubt about the strength of the democratic system now that the voter opinion of the referendum is not reflected. Additionally, some students said they are concerned that the ruling may set a precedent for elections to possibly be overturned again in the future.

Rising third-year College student Talmadge Gunter is an in-state student, and he said he voted in the April election. Gunter is also the policy and development chair of the University Democrats chapter on Grounds, which is a Contracted Independent Organization that advocates for and educates on the Democratic Party. Having worked at the polls and spoken to many voters during the April election, Gunter said he is concerned how the ruling might affect voters’ confidence in the effectiveness of their vote as midterms are approaching.

“It’s really scary, in a sense, going into midterms because I know [for] a lot of students … this was their first election [in which they cast a vote],” Gunter said. “I can just imagine how it feels going into another close election in our own district, in VA-05, where we currently have a Republican representative.”

The constitutional amendment was narrowly approved with 51.7 percent “yes” votes, in support of the amendment, and 48.3 percent “no” votes in April. The Virginia Supreme Court decision was also close, Gunter said, being 4-3, and he said he expects the upcoming VA-05 race in November will also be a “close election.”

“I know people already feel kind of like their voice doesn’t matter in slim elections, and I think that [the ruling] is just going to increase people’s feeling that their voice doesn’t matter,” Gunter said.

Gunter also said the procedural technicalities on which the ruling was made are “ambiguous,” and he said he hopes the ruling does not become a “norm.” Additionally, Gunter said he believes the ruling is another example of democratic norms possibly being sideswept. Regardless of party affiliation, however, Gunter said he hopes the ruling does not affect students’ decisions to vote in November.

Rising second-year College student Pauline Tsui is an out-of-state student registered to vote in Virginia, and she said she voted in the April election. Tsui said she found it difficult when deciding to vote “yes” or “no” because the current 6-5 slightly Democratic-favored map is “technically … more fair,” but said she decided to vote “yes” to balance the trend of Republican gerrymandering across the country. Now that the vote has been blocked, Tsui said she believes people may begin to think their vote only matters with approval by those in power.

“My biggest concern is that millions of Virginians voted on [the redistricting] … and they overall successfully voted to let the map pass, but the court erased those votes after the fact,” Tsui said. “Even though there were procedural disputes, overturning the statewide referendum is kind of a dangerous precedent.”

Tsui also said that to “shut down” a vote is contributing to increasing cynicism about the current system of democracy.

“If voters approved something, and it kind of disappears, it’s just reinforcing the belief that ordinary voters don’t actually have the final say, which is against what our constitution says and how democracy should technically work,” Tsui said.

Tsui said she is planning to vote in the November election but has not yet decided if she will vote in Virginia or her home state.

Rising second-year College student Katie Watson is an in-state student, and she said she voted in the April election. Watson said though she had “complicated feelings” about the redistricting amendment, she ultimately decided to vote in order to ensure the referendum reflected the will of the people. Watson said she also believes voting is important in general.

Watson said the Virginia Supreme Court ruling comes at a time when people may feel like the Court’s decision is more politically charged than if it were to happen during “other points in history.”

“I don’t like [the ruling] kind of broadly, because I do believe the people have expressed their desires,” Watson said. “The questions about early voting, and whether that’s a part of the election is maybe not a question to be asking right in this moment.”

Watson said that though the ruling is frustrating, she understands the procedural questions the court must address.

“I wish we could deal with this in a different way, and that the [Virginia] Supreme Court wasn’t blocking something that had so much popular support, but I also can only be so upset because this is how our democracy is structured.”

Rising second-year College student Nathan Matzig, an out-of-state student, said he voted “yes” in the April election. Matzig said while he understands the argument behind the ruling, he believes the ruling can be viewed as legally arbitrary and generally “not a good process.”

“I don’t feel like [the ruling] captures the intent of the law,” Matzig said. “To me, it seems kind of just like an excuse to overturn [the redistricting] that [the Virginia Supreme Court] didn’t really like in the first place.”

Matzig said that knowing the Virginia Supreme Court is elected by a majority vote in both houses of the General Assembly, rather than justices being appointed by the governor, makes him feel slightly more represented in the ruling.

Justices on the Virginia Supreme Court serve 12-year terms, and the court is currently considered slightly conservative, according to Politico. Virginia is also one of two states where Supreme Court justices are directly elected by the state legislature instead of being directly elected by citizens or appointed by the governor.

Matzig said he plans to vote in the upcoming midterm elections in Virginia, and he said he believes the Virginia Supreme Court ruling may hurt the Democrats’ chances of victory this November.

“It’s possible that the Democrats will still flip a seat or two, but I don’t think that they’re going to do nearly as well as they would have before the Supreme Court struck down [the redistricting],” Matzig said.

Rising third-year College student Bennett Brunner, an in-state student, said he voted in the April election. Brunner said the ruling demonstrates a trend of how national issues have “trickled down” to the state and local level and increased polarization.

Brunner mentioned another example of this trend in Indiana, where Republican state lawmakers voted against redrawing state maps that would have benefitted the party.

“Regardless of the decision [of the Virginia Supreme Court], I think [their ruling] just shows this trend of us nationalizing our politics across state, local and community lines and becoming more polarized,” Brunner said. “[The decision’s implication that] every place can be equipped to deal with all these levels just is not a sustainable method.”

Brunner also said he believes elections and votes should generally not be decided by such close margins, which creates “apathy” towards the democratic system. Brunner said that elections may not resonate with people because of how borderline and possibly confusing the election results become.

Though the vote was blocked by the Virginia Supreme Court, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones filed an emergency appeal May 11 to the U.S. Supreme Court to pause the ruling. The pause would have allowed Virginia to use the 10-1 voter-approved congressional map — in favor of the Democrats — in November while the appeal is pending, but the U.S. Supreme Court denied this request.

Students react to Va. Supreme Court shutdown of voter-approved redistricting

Many students said they understand the logic behind the Court’s ruling, and some students said the ruling could deter voters from participating in future elections

Local Savings

Lars Tiffany out as Virginia men’s lacrosse coach

HAWKINS: The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision was sound — attacks against it are not

An overview of University administration changes since Class of 2026’s arrival

Third time is the charm: No. 4 Virginia defeats No. 1 Wake Forest for spot in NCAA final

For the crown: No. 4 Virginia defeats No. 2 Texas for NCAA men’s tennis title