Virginia Democratic leaders have officially asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause last week’s Virginia Supreme Court ruling that invalidated the state’s newly approved congressional redistricting amendment, arguing the decision “gravely” misinterpreted both federal election law and the Virginia Constitution.
In the emergency application, House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Attorney General Jay Jones are asking Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to immediately stay the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling while they pursue a full appeal.
Last week, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the constitutional amendment authorizing mid-decade congressional redistricting was improperly adopted because the General Assembly failed to wait until after the “next general election” before passing the amendment a second time.
The four justices who ruled against the amendment stated that Virginia’s early voting period counts as an election, meaning some Virginians cast ballots before lawmakers initially approved the amendment at the end of October.
The court ruled that a procedural flaw invalidated both the amendment and the April referendum approving it.
The ruling reinstated the court-drawn 2021 congressional maps for the 2026 elections.
In Monday’s filing, the Democrats argue the Virginia Supreme Court improperly redefined the word “election” in a way that conflicts with federal law establishing a single Election Day for congressional races.
During oral arguments at the Virginia Supreme Court, Democratic lawyers argued that Election Day is when the votes are counted, not when they are cast.
“The decision below violates federal law in two separate ways,” the filing states. “First, it predicated its interpretation of the Virginia Constitution on a grave misreading of federal law, which expressly fixes a single day for the ‘election’ of Representatives and Delegates to Congress.”
Democrats also accused the Virginia Supreme Court of exceeding its constitutional role by effectively rewriting the Virginia Constitution.
“The Supreme Court of Virginia thus defied the combined sovereignty of the people of the Commonwealth who ratified the 1971 Constitution that governs the process for amendment, two General Assemblies who passed the amendment, and the people who ratified the amendment in 2026,” the filing states.
The emergency application repeatedly emphasizes the practical urgency of the case as election deadlines approach. In a recent court filing from the Virginia commissioner of elections, Steven Koski, he stated that the department would need to begin making changes by May 12 to be ready in time for the August primary elections.
According to the filing, Virginia election officials must finalize ballot orders by May 28, so that absentee ballots for military and overseas voters must begin going out by June 18, ahead of the August congressional primaries.
Democrats are asking the Court to immediately freeze the Virginia ruling and allow the new congressional maps to remain in place while the justices consider whether to take the case.
Chief Justice John Roberts has requested that the Republicans file a response to the Democrats’ application by 5 pm on Thursday.
Democrats, on Monday, also shot down the idea of taking the extreme measure of replacing the Virginia Supreme Court justices to try and ram through the amendment again.
Surovell, the top Democrat in the state Senate, told Virginia Scope Monday morning that these drastic measures will not be taken.
He said that the time restrictions at the Department of Elections make the notion impractical.
Surovell also said forcing the retirement of Supreme Court justices would be extreme, and he wants to work within the existing legal system when fighting against Republicans.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger also told reporters at an event Monday afternoon that she does not support removing the court’s current justices.
This is a developing story.