Ballots tallied as Virginia takes center stage in nationwide redistricting battle – WTOP News

See the full results and follow WTOP’s team coverage of the 2026 Virginia redistricting referendum online, on air at 103.5 FM or on the WTOP News app. 

A redistricting battle is coming to a head as Virginians lend their voices to a nationwide showdown over gerrymandering ahead of the midterm elections.

Polls have closed in Virginia’s special election and ballots are being tallied Tuesday night.

There’s one question on the ballot, asking voters whether the commonwealth’s constitution should be amended to grant the General Assembly authority to temporarily adopt new congressional maps.

Early vote estimates have suggested high turnout in areas led by GOP representatives and less sizable turnout in Northern Virginia, which are densely populated.

If the amendment passes, it could open the door for Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional lines in hopes of gaining four seats in the U.S. House, potentially impacting the overall balance of power in Congress. The new maps would remain in effect through 2030.

It’s a fight that supporters argue began when President Donald Trump asked Republicans in Texas to redistrict last summer, which has spiraled into mid-decade redistricting initiatives in a dozen states.

Even if Virginians pass the amendment, the state’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on redistricting after the special election. It’s possible the court could determine the plan is unconstitutional.

Critics of the proposed map have argued it would compromise the representation of Republican voters. Under the current map from 2021, Virginia is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans. Congressional redistricting is usually done after a U.S. Census, once every decade.

High turnout statewide

Typically, turnout for special elections is low. But more than 1.37 million voters cast ballots early on the referendum, largely keeping pace with the 1.5 million voters who participated in the last statewide election, when the governorship was up for grabs, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

The number of ballots cast before election day in counties currently represented by Republican representatives was especially high. Turnout outpaced the 2025 election in Waynesboro, Rockingham, Augusta, Shenandoah and Prince Edward counties, according to data collected by VPAP.

Turnout has been high in largely-blue counties located in Northern Virginia in comparison to past special elections, political analysts told WTOP.

But so far it seems as if fewer voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election than in the 2025 election, according to preliminary data.

According to the Prince William County Office of Elections, voting surged late in the day. Roughly 135,000 ballots have been cast, including early votes, as of 6 p.m. In the last statewide election, about 166,400 ballots were cast.

In Fairfax County, the elections office estimated about 41.1% of registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, as of 5 p.m. Turnout in 2025 reached 55%, according to the state’s department of elections.

In Loudoun County, about 39.19% of the county’s 309,680 voters cast ballots in the referendum, when combining election day votes with early ballots, as of 4 p.m., according to the county’s office of elections.

In 2025, turnout reached 55% with 169,093 ballots cast in Loudoun County.

Why analysts say redistricting is a ‘hard sell’ in Virginia

Virginians have consistently elected Democrats to state and national offices in recent years, including a slate of Democrats elected to statewide office last November. But political analysts said the debate over gerrymandering may not be divided purely on party lines in Virginia.

Just six years ago, Virginians voted to pass a constitutional amendment that restricted the Virginia General Assembly’s ability to gerrymander maps. Instead, a bipartisan commission handles drawing congressional maps once every 10 years.

That amendment’s passage was seen as Virginians taking a stand against partisan gerrymandering in 2020.

“It’s a hard sell when people have previously opposed something like this and now are in favor of it and you have to sort of make that argument and get people to go back on what they thought they believed,” said Marty Cohen, a professor of political science at James Madison University.

Some of the advertising campaigns leading up to the special election day have focused on that 2020 vote, according to professor Karen Hult, who teaches political science at Virginia Tech.

“What this is doing is renewing so-called partisan gerrymandering or gerrymandering that is dividing lines that benefit one party rather than the other party, when people in Virginia had already expressed the sentiment that we wanted to turn to a more balanced commission in making those decisions,” Hult said.

Voters on both sides press ‘fairness’

Virginians on both sides of the issue told WTOP’s Luke Lukert they want redistricting to be fair for all voters in the state and around the country.

“I wish that we didn’t have to fight back in a way that feels like fighting fire with fire, like, I wish there was an easier compromise between the parties that it was a fair system always, that it valued all people equally, and that’s just not how it’s happening across the country right now,” Diane Maloney told WTOP outside the Fairfax County Government Center Elections Office.

“So I felt like it was important to vote today to make that clear.”

Supporters of the redistricting effort argue it’s a necessary response to gerrymandering in other states.

“We need fairness across the board, making sure everybody’s treated equally,” said Kevin Lovelace, who voted yes. “We’re going to see if the shenanigans stop and we can get people in place to make things better for everybody across the board.”

Rose Winston called the vote a “power play grab” by the Democratic Party.

“I came in and I voted no today,” she said. “The Board of Elections didn’t even allow the citizens to put this in the voting booth area, so they were on purpose deceptive.”

WTOP’s Luke Lukert contributed to this report.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.