Charlottesville has lowest voter turn-out in TJPDC region through April 14 for redistricting referendum

There is now less than a week to go before a Constitutional referendum in which voters in Virginia will be asked whether Congressional districts should be redrawn this year to provide Democrats with an easier pathway to five additional seats in the House of Representatives.

Soon after the results of the April 21 election are known, the Virginia Supreme Court will take up a pair of legal challenges questioning the validity of the referendum. A Tazewell County Circuit Court judge had granted injunctions sought by Republicans to halt or delay the vote, but the Virginia Supreme Court justices issued an opinion stating they would hear the appeal after the vote.

“It is the process, not the outcome, of this effort that we may ultimately have to address,” reads the conclusion. “Issuing an injunction to keep Virginians from the polls is not the proper way to make this decision.”

According to an order made on February 13, the appellants had until March 23, 2026 to file their opening brief. The appellees had until April 13 to respond. Appellants have until April 23 to respond.

Resources to learn more about the Virginia Supreme Court’s pending hearing:

• February 13, 2026 Virginia Supreme Court order taking up appeal
• March 4, 2026 opinion from the Virginia Supreme Court allowing the referendum to occur

Meanwhile, over a million Virginians have voted through April 14 according to data from the Virginia Department of Election. The Virginia Public Access Project processes that information and reports a total of 1,043,908.

VPAP also reports that turnout across the Commonwealth is at 175.6 per 1,000 registered voters.

More people have voted in Fluvanna County and Louisa County than in the City of Charlottesville despite smaller populations.

A total of 6,112 voters have had their say in Charlottesville, or 170.2 per 1,000. That compares to 6,421 in Fluvanna County which is well above the state average at 291.2 per 1,000. In Louisa County those numbers are 6,664 or 205.8 per 1,000 registered voters.

Greene County is also above the state average with a total of 3,737 ballots cast. That translates to 228.3 per 1,000.

In Albemarle County, 18,156 have voted which works out to 201.8 per 1,000 registered voters.

If the referendum is approved and the results pass the muster of the Virginia Supreme Court, Charlottesville would be in the same 6th District as communities to the west across the mountains.

In Augusta County, 10,987 people have voted and that’s just above the state average. In the City of Staunton, a total of 4,085 ballots have been cast through April 14 or 211.2 per 1,000 registered voters. In the City of Waynesboro, the average is 206.1 per 1,000 or a total of 3,453 votes.

The Virginia Public Access Project was originally founded to track campaign financing in the Commonwealth and continue to do so. Political Action Committees had to file their latest report on April 10 and the results show millions of dollars are being spent to influence the election.

For groups supporting a yes vote, Virginians for Fair Elections leads the way with total receipts of over $64.1 million since December 10, 2025. They’ve also spent over $58.86 million with nearly $43.3 million in tv/radio advertising buys. You can dig deeper over at VPAP.

The “no” campaign was slower to get started and the group Virginia for Real Elections formed in early February. They’ve raised over $19.81 million since then and have spent about $17.9 million with over $15.4 million of that in tv and radio advertising.

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