VA Redistricting Fight: When Polls Are Open Tuesday

Tuesday is the last day for Virginia voters to weigh in on changes to the state's redistricting process, a move that could give the Democratic party three or four more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to pundits.

The proposed constitutional amendment would allow Virginia’s General Assembly to redraw congressional districts from 2025 to October 2030 if another state redraws districts for any other reason than to comply with a court order or to complete regular redistricting as based on census reports.

The Virginia Board of Elections reminds voters that polling hours are from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. and that anyone in line by 7 p.m. will be able to cast a vote.

More than a million people have already cast their ballots through early voting, WTOP reported.

If the amendment passes, House Bill 29 would be triggered, implementing a new congressional district map in which a number of GOP leaning districts would be broken up into districts expected to be more friendly to Democrats, at least as forecast by votes in the 2025 gubernatorial election.

That bill was signed into law in February 2026, having passed Virginia's General Assembly in a party line vote. The state's usual 10-year redistricting cycle, implemented through a bipartisan committee, would be bypassed.

It’s the latest move in an escalating redistricting arms race that began in July 2025, when Texas Republican lawmakers redrew their state’s congressional map to favor Republicans at President Donald Trump’s urging.

Democrats hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, but if the redistricting plan is enacted, the party could gain the upper hand in 10 districts, a net pickup of four seats.

The new boundaries would be in place in time for November’s midterm congressional elections, where just a handful of seats could determine which party controls the House for the last two years of Trump’s final term.

Under the proposal, state lawmakers would retain the power to redraw district boundaries until October 2030, when the authority would revert to the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission.

Virginia’s two senators, both Democrats, support the initiative. U.S. Sen. Mark Warner is urging voters to approve the amendment, casting it as a response to Republican efforts elsewhere.

“Because of the actions we’ve seen in North Carolina and Texas, to level the playing field, and at least in Virginia, it’s not going to be the politicians, it’s the voters that get to decide, so I think this one time, short-term change, we’ll go back to independent in 2030, I think it makes sense,” Warner said, according to a report in WSLS 10 News.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger and former President Barack Obama are among other high-profile Democrats who have endorsed the referendum, saying it's a necessary response to Republican-initiated mid-decade redistricting in other states. But groups opposed to the measure have also prominently featured the two in campaign materials alongside their past quotes critical of gerrymandering.

Groups supporting the proposed amendment have far outraised those opposing it, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, have actively campaigned against it, according to CNN and other reports.

Polling from earlier this month reveals a nearly even split, with 52% of likely voters saying they’re in favor of the measure.

What’s on the ballot?

The proposed constitutional amendment is the only statewide contest on the ballot.

It reads: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

A “yes” vote would support allowing the General Assembly to redraw congressional districts ahead of the midterms. A “no” vote would leave current boundaries unchanged until the next round of regularly scheduled redistricting after the 2030 census.

Who gets to vote?

Any voter registered in Virginia can cast a ballot. Eligible voters may register on Election Day.

How many voters are there?

There were 6,386,877 registered voters as of March 1. Virginia voters do not register by party.

How many people actually vote?

About 3.4 million votes were cast in the 2025 general election for Virginia governor, which was the last statewide election. This was about 54% of registered voters at the time.

How much of the vote is cast early or absentee?

About 43% of total votes cast in the 2025 general election for governor were cast early or by absentee ballot.

As of Friday, nearly 1.2 million ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election. That’s about 80% of the total advance votes cast in the 2025 gubernatorial election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Virginia counties and independent cities vary in terms of when they release results from early and absentee voting.

Less than a third of jurisdictions release all or almost all of their early and absentee voting results in their first vote update of the night.

Nearly half the jurisdictions release no early or absentee voting results in the first vote update.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.