Scott v. McDougle

Syllabus

On March 6, 2026, the General Assembly of Virginia submitted to Virginia voters a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts in the Commonwealth. In the present opinion, the Supreme Court holds that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia, and this constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy. Under the Constitution of Virginia, lawful adoption of an amendment necessitates compliance with the requirements of a deliberately lengthy, precise, and balanced procedure, and strict compliance with these mandatory provisions is required in order that all proposed constitutional amendments shall receive the deliberate consideration and careful scrutiny that they deserve. In this case, the Commonwealth submitted a proposed constitutional amendment to Virginia voters in an unprecedented manner that violated the intervening-election requirement in Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia. This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void. For this reason, the congressional district maps issued by this Court in 2021 pursuant to Article II, Section 6-A of the Constitution of Virginia remain the governing maps for the upcoming 2026 congressional elections.