Spiked Election

Court overrules the people

This cartoon was drawn for the Fredericksburg Advance.

Lately, it seems that Democrats cannot win, even when they win.

The Supreme Court has struck down the Voting Rights Act, ruling that race cannot be a factor in drawing congressional districts, which has now set off southern red states to redraw all their districts to guarantee that their entire congressional delegation will be lily white.

And Republicans, who hate fair elections anyway, have redrawn their congressional districts mid-decade in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and now in Florida, without putting it to a vote by the people, and can gain as many as 14 seats. But in Virginia, where the people did vote on it, four conservative justices have ruled it unconstitutional and thrown out the entire election.

Virginia’s high court ruled 4-3 on Friday that a redistricting referendum voters approved for the state last month violated procedural rules. The decision shot down a new congressional map that could have netted Democrats an additional four seats in the U.S. House.

The state Supreme Court ruled that the General Assembly began its constitutional amendment process too late to be lawful. The majority wrote, “This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”

They did not rule against gerrymandering or the new map. They ruled against the timing. But you have to be especially stupid if you think Virginians didn't know what they were voting on.

The state Supreme Court had previously allowed the April special election to go forward, while reserving the right to rule on the measure’s legality later on. Virginians narrowly voted in favor of the redistricting referendum by 3 points. It seems like the court wanted to wait and see who won before issuing a ruling.

Democrats spent over $62 million to win this election. The state spent $5 million to administer the election.

The original 6-5 Democratic-majority voting map will remain intact until the next redistricting period.

Republicans, who changed voting rules in every red state after Trump lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, are cackling over how the Virginia vote was unconstitutional.

Democrats were hoping to gain four more seats in Virginia, but now, Republicans could gain as many as 14 from redrawn maps across six states. Democrats need a net gain of at least three House seats in November to flip the House majority.

Trump celebrated the Friday decision, calling it a “huge win” for Republicans and the rest of the country, and wrote on Truth Social, “The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander.” Remember, this is a guy who tried to steal the 2020 election and is still lying about it. He called the Virginia election fake. Trump called this a “horrible gerrymander,” but he loves gerrymandering in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida.

Governor Abigail Spanberger posted to X, “I am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling, but my focus as Governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we — the voters — will have the final say.” But I don't know if that's true because the Supreme Court might just wanna go behind the voters and invalidate their votes.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene said, “This is a setback that sends a terrible message to Americans – the powerful and elite will do everything they can to silence you.”

We already knew that. Donald Trump sent the FBI to seize 2020 ballots in Fulton County, Georgia. Now he's demanding that states send him all of their voter information.

Democrats can appeal to the Supreme Court, but let's be serious. That won't go anywhere because they don't rule on the law anymore, and just strictly on religious, racial, and partisan grounds. Plus, at least two of the conservative justices are publicly taking bribes. Samuel Alito is flying a MAGA flag outside his house, and Clarence Thomas’ wife has worked on Donald Trump's election steal campaign.

All Democrats can do now is win in November. They need a blue wave and basically need to pitch a perfect game. And it will have to be perfect, because even when Democrats win, Republicans find ways to take it away.

This cartoon already has over 100 comments on it on my Facebook page.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

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