After wresting power from Democrats in 2010 and 2012, respectively, Wisconsin and North Carolina Republicans passed strict voter identification laws, although the laws were challenged and eventually struck down by federal courts. And most relevant to the case at hand is the fact that after winning control in 2009 and bolstering their majority in 2011, Virginia Republicans passed — and Gov. Bob McDonnell signed — a strict voter ID law. Two years later, they passed a new partisan gerrymander, entrenching the party’s advantage in congressional and state legislative elections.

Obviously, these voter restrictions and extreme partisan gerrymanders aren’t fair. But they work. Last year, for example, Wisconsin Republicans won a majority in the State Assembly while losing a majority of the vote statewide. Wisconsin Democrats would have to win a statewide landslide to win a bare majority of seats, while Republicans get half the vote and win a supermajority. Likewise, in Virginia, it took two consecutive elections for Democrats to win a bare majority in the State Legislature.

In Virginia at least, Democrats now have the power to change this — to make elections fairer and voting a more inclusive process. And the steps they should take are straightforward. Virginia does not have automatic and Election Day voter registration. It should. Virginia does not have mail-in balloting. It should. With this new liberal majority, Virginia Democrats could repeal that voter ID law, expand early and absentee voting, and automatically restore voting rights for ex-offenders. (As it stands, the governor must restore those rights on a case-by-case basis.) These steps don’t just expand the electorate — they shape it. Easier voting means more young and low-income voters, more progressive voters and a more durable base for future gains.

The most important reform Virginia Democrats could make is to revamp the redistricting process. Tuesday’s elections were held under maps different from those the Republicans put in place after the 2010 census. Those maps were based on an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, packing black voters into a handful of districts to protect Republican lawmakers from competition. After a lawsuit from the Democratic attorney general, a federal court invalidated those maps. The courts then adopted a map that altered more than two dozen districts, eliminating several Republican safe seats in the State Legislature and opening the door to a Democratic majority.

With full control of state government ahead of another census, Democrats could replace the current map of state legislative and congressional districts with one that would ensure fair competition and break unfair partisan advantages. They could even go the California route and establish a bipartisan commission to carry out comprehensive redistricting reform.