A Virginia circuit court judge ruled Wednesday that a recently approved redistricting referendum was unconstitutional, issuing an injunction that blocks certification of the election results one day after voters narrowly approved the measure.

Virginia Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley determined that all votes cast for or against the proposed constitutional amendment were invalid, citing requirements governing the amendment process that were not met. The ruling came as multiple legal challenges to the referendum continue to move through the state court system.

The referendum, which passed Tuesday, had sought to implement a new congressional map drawn by Democrats.

The approval had been seen as a significant step in reshaping the state’s political landscape before the court’s decision halted certification.

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Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican, announced the ruling on X following the decision.

“The Tazewell Circuit Court just ruled the referendum unconstitutional. The Judge entered an injunction blocking certification of the election & denied a motion to stay pending appeal. A final order will be entered once drafted, & it will be immediately appealed,” Cuccinelli said.

Shortly after the ruling, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, said his office would move forward with an appeal. Jones, who defeated Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in November, indicated the state would seek to overturn the decision in higher courts.

“Virginia voters have spoken, and an activist judge should not have veto power over the People's vote,” Jones said Wednesday after the ruling.

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“We look forward to defending the outcome of last night's election in court.”

Cuccinelli, who leads the American Principles Project Election Transparency Initiative, said there are four separate constitutional challenges related to the referendum currently working their way through the courts.

Three of those challenges focus on the amendment process itself.

Speaking to CNN commentator Scott Jennings, Cuccinelli outlined the process required to amend the Virginia Constitution.

“Virginia has a process to amend its constitution that has the General Assembly pass a proposed amendment and then have a state election — an intervening election — where the new House of Delegates was elected and so forth. And then that new General Assembly comes back and has to pass the exact same amendment,” Cuccinelli said.

He explained that the timing of the legislative action and voting raised legal concerns. “The General Assembly passed the amendment for the first time — called first passage, very creative — on Halloween. Well, these same Democrats, five years ago, gave us a 45-day election.

So, voting began September 19 of 2025. Over a million people had already voted before first passage, and they want to treat that election as the intervening election. They're going to have a very difficult time with that.”

Cuccinelli added that additional constitutional issues are part of the ongoing litigation and said he expects the matter to move quickly through the courts, predicting a final ruling could come by May.

Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko also responded to the ruling, criticizing the decision and expressing confidence that it would be overturned.

“Virginia voters spoke. MAGA lost. And now a rogue Republican judge is trying to override the will of the people because they didn’t like the outcome,” Parkhomenko said on X.

“That’s not democracy. That’s desperation.”

Parkhomenko added, “I have full confidence a higher court will overturn this nonsense quickly, and the will of Virginia voters will prevail.”

“Nice try,” he added.

The ruling leaves the status of the redistricting amendment uncertain as appeals proceed, with multiple legal challenges still pending in Virginia courts.

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