The ruling did not arrive out of nowhere. The redistricting battle in Virginia has been grinding through the courts for months, entangled in legal disputes over procedure, constitutional requirements, and political timing.

Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, writing for the majority, found that the Commonwealth submitted the proposed constitutional amendment to voters in a manner that violated the intervening-election requirement outlined in Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution. That procedural violation, the court ruled, irreparably undermined the integrity of the referendum vote and rendered it null and void. As a result, the congressional district maps issued by the court in 2021 remain the governing maps for the upcoming 2026 congressional elections. Time

In plain terms: the method Democrats used to get the amendment in front of voters broke the rules, regardless of how those voters ultimately cast their ballots. Three justices disagreed, but the majority held firm.

The court’s decision came twelve days after justices heard oral arguments, pressing attorneys on whether lawmakers had actually complied with Virginia’s constitutional requirements governing amendments. Democrats had argued that procedural technicalities should not override the expressed will of millions of voters. The majority was unmoved.