Op-Ed by Ruth Fischer, Fairfax City Resident
On April 21, 2026, Virginia voters are asked to vote in a Special Election on the following Proposed Constitutional Amendment:
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?
The proposal of this amendment was not made lightly but in response to unconstitutional and executive overreach by President Donald Trump.
Last July, President Donald Trump ordered Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) to redistrict his state in the middle of the decade in order to carve out an additional five Republican-leaning congressional districts, which would bolster the party’s odds of keeping control of the U. S. House of Representatives following the 2026 midterm elections. President Trump’s demands for such gerrymandering correlate with his record-low approval rating and rising unpopularity of his signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill.
By attempting to bolster his party’s odds of winning midterm elections and keeping control of Congress, the President is attempting to go around the will of the people by eliminating the accountability that elections bring. Such accountability is a core element of democracy. Redrawing these districts at the midpoint of the census period sets up partisan gerrymandering, which President Trump’s actions clearly did when he told Governor Abbott to carve out seats favoring the Republican party. Several other Republican controlled states joined him in this gerrymandering effort.
Gerrymandering is distasteful but in this case it is the lesser of two evils. Notice the language of the amendment: temporarily adopt, restore fairness in the upcoming elections, Virginia’s standard resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census. This redistricting is a one-time action.
The General Assembly is asking the citizens of Virginia to be allowed to redistrict to offset the egregious gerrymandering initiated by President Trump.
Vote Yes on this amendment to allow the General Assembly to ensure a fair election.
