The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled against the Democrat-backed measure to allow for mid-decade redistricting on Friday.
"We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia. This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy," read an opinion written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey.
The court found that the process by which the referendum reached the ballot did not comply with constitutional requirements.
This decision comes after the measure passed by a margin of 51.69% to 48.31% during a special referendum held on April 21, according to unofficial results published on the Virginia Department of Elections' website
Currently, Democrats hold a 6-5 advantage in Virginia's congressional delegation, but the new map proposed by state lawmakers would have given them a 10-1 advantage.
The proposed constitutional amendment backed by Democratic officials would have bypassed the state's bipartisan redistricting commission to allow use of new congressional districts approved by state lawmakers in this year's midterm elections.
Watch previous coverage: State Supreme Court suspends lower court's pause on redistricting referendum
A Tazewell County judge ruled that the redistricting push was illegal for several reasons. Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. said lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session.
He ruled that their initial vote 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. He also ruled that the state failed to publish the amendment three months before that election, as required by law.
This was an effort being led by state Democrats in response to Republican-controlled states taking similar efforts after being asked to do so by President Donald Trump.
Watch: Political analysts break down the Virginia redistricting referendum results
In Hampton Roads, Virginia's Second Congressional District — which encompasses all of Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and Franklin, part of Chesapeake, and Accomack, Northampton and Isle of Wight counties — would have been notably altered under Democrats' proposed map.
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