3小时前 | 美联社
弗吉尼亚州里士满的弗吉尼亚州议会大厦，2025年11月3日。
Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File
美联社电—
弗吉尼亚州选民将在4月21日举行的全州公投中对一项有利于民主党的国会选区重划计划进行投票，与此同时，法院正在就该计划的合法性展开诉讼。
弗吉尼亚州最高法院周五表示，全州公投可在4月21日举行，以决定是否授权中期重新划分选区，而法院将在稍后决定该计划是否合法。
民主党人对选举绿灯亮起表示庆祝。但法院的日程安排引发了一种可能性，即如果最高法院最终维持下级法院关于中期重新划分选区修正案无效的裁决，那么这一切可能都是徒劳的。
弗吉尼亚州民主党拥有该州11个美国众议院席位中的6个，但他们支持一项修订后的地图，该地图可能帮助他们在今年的中期选举中赢得多达10个席位。新选区是民主党全国战略的关键部分，旨在抵消由于总统唐纳德·特朗普的推动，其他几个州去年重新划分选区可能导致的共和党潜在收益。
这位共和党总统正试图在众议院中保持微弱的共和党多数优势，以抵御通常在中期选举中对执政党不利的政治逆风。
在弗吉尼亚州民主党能够实施新的国会选区之前，他们需要选民批准，暂时搁置将重新划分选区权力交给两党委员会的宪法条款，转而将该权力授予州议会。立法者去年秋天通过了一项允许中期重新划分选区的宪法修正案，然后在今年1月再次通过，作为两步过程的一部分，该过程需要中间选举才能将修正案列入投票名单。
但塔兹韦尔巡回法院法官小杰克·赫尔利上个月以三个理由推翻了州议会的行动。法官裁定，立法者未能遵循自己的规则，将重新划分选区修正案纳入特别会议。
赫尔利还裁定，州议会对修正案的初步投票未能在公众开始在去年的大选中投票之前进行，因此不计入两步过程。他还裁定，该州未能按照法律要求在选举前三个月公布修正案。他说，由于这些问题，修正案无效且作废。
民主党人向州最高法院上诉了这一裁决，该法院周五同意审理此案，同时指出下级法院的一项范围狭窄的禁令并不阻止4月的公投。法院指示在3月23日前提交初步简报，最后一轮法院文件应于4月23日提交。法院表示，任何口头辩论将在稍后安排。
在全国范围内，到目前为止，重新划分选区的斗争已导致共和党人认为他们在德克萨斯州、密苏里州、北卡罗来纳州和俄亥俄州可以赢得的9个更多席位，以及民主党人认为他们在加利福尼亚州和犹他州可以赢得的6个席位。民主党人希望在弗吉尼亚州弥补这3个席位的差距，尽管下级法院的裁决给他们的计划设置了一个障碍。目前还不清楚各州的重新划分选区努力最终是否会对11月选举中国会控制权的决定产生任何影响。
Virginia redistricting election will go forward while court considers appeal
3 hr ago | Associated Press
The Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, on November 3, 2025.
Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File
AP—
Virginia voters will get to cast ballots on a congressional redistricting plan benefiting Democrats while a court battle plays out over the legality of the effort.
The Virginia Supreme Court said Friday that a statewide referendum can be held April 21 on whether to authorize mid-decade redistricting, and the court will decide sometime later whether the plan is legal.
Democrats celebrated the green light for the election. But the court’s schedule raises the possibility that it could all be for naught, if the Supreme Court ultimately upholds a lower court ruling that the mid-decade redistricting amendment is invalid.
Virginia Democrats hold six of the state’s 11 US House seats, but they are backing a revised map that could help them win up to 10 seats in this year’s midterm elections. The new districts are a key part of Democrats’ national strategy to try to offset potential Republican gains in several other states that redrew their districts last year at the urging of President Donald Trump.
The Republican president is trying to preserve a narrow GOP majority in the House against political headwinds that typically blow against the party in power in midterm elections.
Before Virginia Democrats can implement new congressional districts, they need voter approval to temporarily set aside a constitutional provision that places redistricting authority with a bipartisan commission and instead grant that power to the General Assembly. Lawmakers endorsed a constitutional amendment allowing their mid-decade redistricting last fall, then passed it again in January as part of a two-step process that requires an intervening election in order for an amendment to be placed on the ballot.
But Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. last month struck down the General Assembly’s actions on three grounds. The judge ruled that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session.
Hurley also ruled that the General Assembly’s initial vote for the amendment failed to occur before the public began casting ballots in last year’s general election and thus didn’t count toward the two-step process. And he ruled that the state failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law. As a result of those issues, he said, the amendment was invalid and void.
Democrats appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court, which agreed on Friday to consider the case while stating that a narrowly tailored injunction by the lower court doesn’t prevent the April referendum. The court directed initial briefs to be filed by March 23, with the last round of court filings due April 23. Any oral arguments would be scheduled for later, the court said.
Nationwide, the redistricting battle has resulted so far in nine more seats that Republicans believe they can win in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, and six that Democrats think they can win in California and Utah. Democrats have hoped to make up that three-seat margin in Virginia, though the lower court ruling raised a hurdle to their plans. It’s unclear whether the redistricting efforts in various states ultimately will make any difference in determining control of Congress in the November election.