This story was reported and written by our media partner Capital News Service.
A constitutional amendment allowing the General Assembly to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts is on the ballot this month, prompting mixed responses from university students across the state.
Both state legislative chambers agreed in January to bring House Joint Resolution 4 to a referendum, and the measure is currently on the ballot in a special election.
The amendment, if passed, would allow the General Assembly to modify Virginia’s congressional districts until Oct. 31, 2030. While the proposed district map has already been approved by lawmakers, it would only go into effect if the amendment is approved by voters, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
The redrawn map would give Virginia Democrats a 10-1 lead in the U.S. House, according to the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. This could give Virginia Democrats four more seats in Congress.
This amendment follows similar amendments passed by six states, including Texas, Missouri and California, to redraw their own congressional districts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Several other states also introduced legislation to authorize new maps.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger expressed support for the redistricting amendment ahead of early voting, saying it “preserves Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting process for the future,” according to a press release. Spanberger also visited the polls and said she voted in favor of the measure.
Student Views Around Virginia
Ryan Jackson, a Virginia Commonwealth University senior and the VCU Votes assistant director for outreach, said many VCU students intend to approve the amendment, but those living in rural areas may feel differently.
“When I've traveled to rural areas over the past few months, you definitely see a lot more 'vote no' signs coming up,” Jackson said.
In addition to VCU Votes’ efforts to educate students about the vote and how to find their polling locations, off-campus groups like Virginians for Fair Maps and Virginians for Fair Elections are often spotted on campus asking students about their voting plans in a more partisan manner, according to Jackson.
The redrawn districts would benefit the Democratic Northern Virginia region, into the Republican-leaning rural areas, according to Jackson.
“A lot of the framing that I've seen from ads online, for example, is that if you vote yes, then you're diluting rural votes and rural voters are losing power,” Jackson said.
With midterm elections later this year, Jackson said the results of the vote could shape legislative pathways on a national scale. With the influx of advertisements and pamphlets urging people to vote one way, Jackson stressed the importance of people doing their own research.
James Madison University student Erin Fitzgerald said there is not a lot of on campus information about the vote, but many of her peers intend to approve the amendment.
“We have [newspaper stands] for our student news publication, and there have been ads on those signs that say 'vote yes' or 'vote no,' but I don't think those are paid for or sponsored by any JMU organization,” Fitzgerald said.
Many JMU students will likely vote on party lines, with conservatives voting no and liberals voting yes, according to Fitzgerald.
Virginia Tech student Thomas Fiedor said he and his friends plan to vote against the amendment, but he is not sure of the general consensus of the student body.
“It's pretty much gerrymandering,” Fiedor said. “They're redistricting the districts in order to put the power into one hand more than the other.”
While many of his peers from Northern Virginia may not be affected by the vote, Fiedor said representation is still important to those living or planning to live in southwestern Virginia, including himself.
Fiedor also noted a lack of on campus awareness surrounding the upcoming vote.
Confusing Messages
In that void, groups are spending tens of millions to persuade voters, and many of the messages can be confusing.
Voters have been targeted along a stretch of Interstate 64 in Richmond, with ads that flip political figures and voting stances. An image of President Donald Trump in one ad encourages people to stop the power grab and vote “yes”, while another ad shows Spanberger pushing a “no” vote on the measure. Virginians have also received mailers that connect redistricting to reduced Black representation, according to the Virginia Mercury.
Almost all of the over $79 million spent on both sides of the issue since February is from “dark money” groups that are not required to disclose their donors, according to a recent Cardinal News report.
Early voting for the amendment opened March 6 and ends Saturday, April 18. Voters can cast a ballot at their respective polling locations on Tuesday, April 21.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Richard T. Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.