State legislature elections on Nov. 7, 2023, in New Jersey and Virginia shifted Democratic majorities in the legislatures. This could affect legislatively referred constitutional amendments that may appear on the ballot in future elections.
In Virginia, Democrats won a majority in the House of Delegates and maintained their majority in the State Senate. Previously, in the House, Republicans held a 48-46 majority with six vacancies in the chamber. After the Nov. 7 election, Democrats hold a 51-48 majority, with one district currently too close to call. In the Virginia Senate, Democrats held a 22-18 majority, and after the election, they now hold a 21-19 majority. With Democratic control of both chambers of the state legislature, they are now able to place constitutional amendments on the ballot by a simple majority vote in both chambers of the legislature in two legislative sessions. As the process for referring constitutional amendments occurs over two legislative sessions in Virginia, Democrats would need to retain control of the legislature in 2025.
In 2022, two constitutional amendments failed to make the Virginia ballot after passing during one legislative session. One amendment would have repealed Question 1 from 2006, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and another amendment would have restored the ability to vote to persons convicted of a felony after they have completed their sentence. Both amendments passed both chambers in the 2021 legislative session with a Democratic majority. However, on the Nov. 2, 2021 election, the partisan control of the House changed from a 55-45 Democratic majority to a 52-48 Republican majority. While both measures passed the Senate in 2022, they failed to pass the House, and could not be placed on the ballot.
