WASHINGTON, Apr 22 (Reuters) – United States President Donald Trump claimed this Wednesday, without evidence, that a vote in Virginia to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Democrats had been ‘rigged’, while a judge decided to block the measure.
On Tuesday, Virginia voters approved a redistricting referendum that could help Democrats win up to four Republican-held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and increase Democrats’ chances of winning control of the House in November.
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Trump, a Republican, wrote in a social media post that ‘A FRAUDED ELECTION WAS HELD LAST NIGHT IN THE GREAT COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA!’ and blamed mail-in votes for the result.
The post was the latest example of Trump casting doubt on election results he doesn’t like, portraying the normal vote count, especially the tabulation of mail-in votes, as evidence of fraud without offering proof.
The referendum has already faced several legal challenges. The Virginia Supreme Court allowed the referendum to be held, but may end up invalidating it, rendering the results of no practical effect.
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And in a separate case that also appears likely to end up in the Supreme Court, a Virginia county judge, responding to a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee, blocked the new map on Wednesday, ruling that lawmakers had not followed the rules for the constitutional amendment that the map redesign required.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, said he would ask the state’s Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Jack Hurley Jr.’s order that called the ballot’s language ‘blatantly misleading’ and blocked the state from certifying Tuesday’s referendum results.
The Virginia referendum is the latest twist in the nation’s redistricting race, started by Trump and Texas Republicans last year as they sought to defend their party’s slim majority in the House of Representatives during November’s midterm elections.
Trump, who did not accept defeat in the 2020 presidential election despite having failed in dozens of lawsuits to challenge the results, has constantly sought to undermine faith in the voting process.
Following his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden, Trump falsely claimed widespread fraud and supported efforts to overturn the result, including pressuring his then-vice president, Mike Pence, not to certify the election results.
Since then, courts, state election officials and his own government have found no evidence of fraud on a scale that could have changed the outcome.
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In recent months, the Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to revive allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. The Justice Department is seeking a wide range of state voter data, while the FBI has reopened old allegations of voter fraud in crucial states, including Georgia.
