“The Virginia legislature first approved the proposed redistricting amendment on Oct. 31, 2025 after more than 1.3 million votes (roughly 40% of total votes) had already been cast in the November 2025 general election, so there was no intervening election as required by the Virginia Constitution.”
Attributed to The Federalist (article)
Article asserts Virginia Democrats began the amendment process during early voting and cites Attorney General Opinion 25-029 as having warned the process violated the intervening-election requirement.
What the proof shows
Primary sources show the core factual chain in the claim is correct: the Virginia General Assembly’s first legislative approval of the proposed amendment occurred on October 31, 2025, early voting for the November 4, 2025 House of Delegates election had begun on September 19, 2025, and by October 31 more than 1.3 million ballots (about 40% of the cycle total) had been cast. The Supreme Court of Virginia (majority opinion) relied on those facts to conclude there was not an intervening general election and therefore voided the amendment and referendum. The only element I could not independently locate as a public record is the specific Attorney General advisory labeled “25‑029”; court filings and opinions cite other AG materials (e.g., a 2026 advisory opinion) but I could not find a public copy of a 25‑029 opinion to confirm the Federalist’s description of its date/content.
Corrected version
The Virginia Supreme Court held (May 8, 2026) that the General Assembly’s first approval of the proposed amendment occurred on October 31, 2025 after early voting had begun and after more than 1.3 million ballots (≈40% of the total) had already been cast in the November 2025 House of Delegates election, and therefore the court found the constitution’s intervening‑election requirement was not met and voided the amendment and referendum.
Automated evidence confidence: 0%
References and proof
Every link was reachable when published. Each proof point states how that source bears on the claim.
Supreme Court of Virginia strikes down redistricting amendment, keeps current maps in place ↗
WHRO (reporting)The Supreme Court of Virginia ... said Article XII, Section 1 of Virginia’s constitution requires 'an intervening general election' between the legislature’s first and second approvals of a constitutional amendment. The majority held early voting in the 2025 general election had already begun before legislators voted on the proposed amendment for the first time.
Emergency stay petition of State Election Officials (filed in Supreme Court of Virginia) ↗
Virginia Department of Elections / Office filings (via Legal_LLS repository)Pursuant to Article XII of the Constitution of Virginia, the General Assembly approved a proposed constitutional amendment on October 31, 2025, and following the November 4, 2025, general election of members of the House of Delegates, approved the amendment again in the subsequent session on January 16, 2026. ... Voting in the general election for the House of Delegates began on September 19, 2025.
The Federalist — article being checked ↗
The FederalistThe Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature first approved its proposed ... amendment on Oct. 31, 2025. At that late date — and after weeks of early voting — more than 1.3 million votes had already been cast in the November 2025 general election: roughly 40 percent of total votes cast in that election.
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