Richmond, VA – As early voting begins today in Virginia on a ballot measure to rebalance the commonwealth’s congressional districts, the country’s leading ballot measure organization is applauding the measure’s placement on the ballot. After overcoming attempted procedural and legal obstructions, the proposal is now in Virginians’ hands to decide.
The Fairness Project, one of the nation’s largest funders and strategic partners behind progressive ballot measure campaigns, has been supporting Virginians for Fair Elections since the campaign launched earlier this year. In addition to the Virginia measure, the Fairness Project plans to support several other campaigns across the country that will use ballot measures to give voters a direct role in protecting democratic processes and stopping the ongoing attempt to rig the 2026 General Election.
“Starting today, Virginia’s power to preserve fair elections is being placed exactly where it belongs: in the hands of voters,” declared Kelly Hall, Director of the Fairness Project, the national leader in ballot measure campaigns and a key backer of Virginians for Fair Elections. “Now it’s up to voters to decide whether to redraw their congressional districts before the 2026 midterms. That’s what this campaign is all about: giving voters, not politicians, the final say.”
Between now and April 21, Virginia voters will be able to vote on whether to maintain their current congressional districts or create a fairer picture nationally with a new, temporary balance of congressional districts that will change the commonwealth’s political landscape between now and the General Election. This change would expire in 2030, at which time a new census will be taken, and the redistricting process in Virginia will revert to the commonwealth’s nonpartisan commission.
Since the White House infamously called on Texas to rig its congressional districts in favor of the incumbent party, other state administrations politically aligned with the White House have followed suit. This, in turn, caused concerned citizens and pro-democracy organizations across the country to turn to ballot measures as a bulwark against this new wave of gerrymandering. In Virginia, the measure faced fierce opposition from officials and interest groups aligned with the current White House and overcame multiple legal challenges, eventually prevailing at the state’s Supreme Court.
Virginia currently holds 11 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Voters there will be the first in the nation to cast ballots this year on whether to allow a temporary change in hopes of creating a more balanced political landscape nationally ahead of the midterms. So far, campaigns in several states have signaled similar efforts in 2026 and beyond, with Coloradans for a Level Playing Field already launching their campaign just last month.
“Virginia is the first, but by no means the last state, where voters are using the ballot measure process to give themselves the power to preserve fair elections,” said Hall. “In states across the country, citizen groups are turning to the ballot measure as a means to exercise their rights and level the playing field for the midterms and beyond,” she continued. “At the Fairness Project, we will continue to support state campaigns doing the necessary and challenging work of defending our democracy at the ballot box in 2026 and beyond.”