Donald Trump has called the referendum won by Democrats in Virginia, which allows them to redraw the state's electoral map and thus gain four more seats in Congress, "rigged."
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the victory "dishonest."
"Last night a rigged election took place in the great state of Virginia," wrote Trump in all caps, who is accustomed to making accusations of voter fraud, such as those - which turned out to be unfounded - regarding his loss in the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
"All day long the Republicans were winning, the excitement was incredible, until the end when, of course, there was a massive recount of mail-in votes. Where have I heard that before?" he commented sarcastically.
Trump has often criticized the ability of many states to allow voters to vote by mail, claiming it was one of the main reasons for his defeat, which he denies, in 2020. In late March, he signed an executive order aimed at restricting mail-in voting, but Democrats sued to overturn it.
Tuesday's referendum in Virginia is seen as a response to the redrawing of the electoral map that Trump and Republicans have begun in other states, such as Texas.
Today, of the 11 representatives Virginia elects to Congress, six are Democrats. With the new electoral map, Democrats hope to be able to increase their number of representatives to as many as 10 in the crucial midterm elections in November.
Redistricting along party lines and with absurd geographic boundaries is an old recipe in the US electoral system, a tactic called gerrymandering. In 2025, Trump asked the leadership of Texas, a Republican-controlled state, to redraw the electoral map to gain five more congressional seats. Ohio and North Carolina followed suit, aiming to offer the president several more seats.
Democrats responded by moving forward with redistricting in several states, most notably in California and, now, Virginia.
