On April 9, 2026, politically outspoken journalist Roland Martin paid a visit to VSU for a live taping of his broadcast show, “Roland Martin Unfiltered.”

Martin was joined by several special guests during the taping of his show, including U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, U.S. Representative Jennifer McClellan, Virginia Delegates Delores McQuinn and Kimberly Pope Adams, and Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Don Scott.

Roland and the group of politicians touched on multiple topics, with the most notable being state politics and most importantly the Virginia special election happening on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

Many politicians and political activists, including former President Barack Obama, have been extremely outspoken in spreading awareness during the last few months about the special election, highlighting the importance and impacts this decision could have on Virginia and its citizens.

According to the U.S. Department of Elections, the special election is to vote on the following: “The proposed amendment would give the General Assembly the authority to redraw one or more of Virginia’s congressional districts before 2031 in limited circumstances. In the event that another state redraws its own congressional districts before 2031, without being ordered by a court to do so, the General Assembly would then be able to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts. The General Assembly’s power to do so would continue until October 31, 2030, and the Virginia Redistricting Commission would reassume the responsibility of drawing the congressional districts in 2031.

The proposed district map has been approved by the General Assembly and would take effect only if the constitutional amendment is approved by the voters.

A “yes” vote would allow the General Assembly to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts, since other states have done so, in addition to giving effect to the proposed district map in time for the 2026 Congressional elections, and return the responsibility of drawing the congressional districts in 2031 to the Virginia Redistricting Commission.

A “no” vote would leave the authority to draw congressional districts with the Virginia Redistricting Commission once a decade and Virginia’s current districts would remain in place.”

VSU’s Multipurpose center was available as a polling place for those who wanted to vote on this issue on April 21st, 2026. While the final voting results were not available as of the printing of the paper, you should be able to find the results after the election at www.thevirginiastatesman.com