A Bedford County supervisor filed a lawsuit seeking to block a referendum on enshrining abortion access into the Virginia Constitution. The lawsuit cites one of the same code sections that currently has the Democratic redistricting proposal tied up in the Supreme Court of Virginia — the 90-day circuit court posting requirement.
That brings the question forward: if Republicans eventually win the SCOVA lawsuit on redistricting for failing to comply with the same requirement, are the other referendum votes scheduled for November in jeopardy?
In addition to redistricting and abortion access, Democrats have advanced constitutional amendments that would remove the defunct ban on same-sex marriage and automatically restore voting rights for individuals with a felony.
Abortion, the marriage ban and the restoration of rights referendum votes are taking place in November.
The specific code section cited in the Bedford lawsuit, which was first reported by the Virginia Mercury, requires the House of Delegates to distribute copies of any proposed amendment to circuit courts across Virginia. The courts are required to post the amendments for 90 days prior to the intervening House election, which is the election that occurs midway through the amendment process.
That election was last November, and three localities claim they did not post the proposed amendments prior to that day, according to the Bedford lawsuit.
A circuit court judge in Tazewell recently ruled that the General Assembly did not comply with the posting law when advancing the redistricting amendment, and he placed an injunction on the vote.
It was impossible to comply with the requirement because Democrats took the first step to amend the Constitution to allow them to redraw congressional boundaries just days before the election.
The Virginia Supreme Court put a stay on that injunction to allow early voting on the redistricting referendum to begin Friday, but the commonwealth’s highest court emphasized that letting the vote take place should be no indicator of how they might rule in the case — expressing “grave” concerns.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said during an interview with Virginia Scope Thursday that the requirement was left in the code as an oversight when the General Assembly redid the Constitution in 1971.
The code commission recommended removing that section last year, and Democrats in the General Assembly took steps during the current legislative session to repeal it retroactively.
“There’s nothing in the Constitution that requires the clerks to post anything, and the Constitution governs the adoption of constitutional amendments,” Surovell said.
“That statute is premised on people coming to the courthouse on Saturday once a month to find out what’s going on in their community,” he continued, “which hasn’t happened since about 1900.”
Jamie Lockhart, the executive director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said the Bedford lawsuit is a “desperate attempt to silence the will of Virginia voters,” while noting that the efforts to amend the Constitution “began more than three years ago after the Dobbs decision stripped millions of people of their freedoms.”
Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said he is not concerned about the new case, pointing out the big wins the Democrats had in November.
“The Republicans are desperate,” Scott said during a conversation with the media Thursday morning. “The last thing they want to see is a Virginia voter.”