It’s official: Virginia Democrats are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate their gerrymandered map that favors their party with a 10-1 advantage. The Virginia Supreme Court struck down that map, citing multiple procedural violations under the state constitution. Interestingly, early voting partly overturned this scheme. Despite that, liberals in the Old Dominion are hoping for relief. They believe the question of ‘what is Election Day’ will be compelling enough to prompt federal intervention (via NYT):
Democratic leaders in Virginia asked the Supreme Court on Monday to allow the state to use a congressional map drawn by Democrats and approved by voters in a referendum in April.
In an emergency application, the state’s attorney general and other officials urged the justices to overturn a decision by the Virginia Supreme Court, which ruled last week that the redistricting process had violated the state’s Constitution, a major setback for Democrats in a fierce battle over which party will control the U.S. House.
In their filing on Monday, Virginia state officials claimed that the ruling by the state’s Supreme Court had amounted to “judicial defiance” of the will of the voters to create a new district map. The officials asserted that the state court was “deeply mistaken” on “critical issues of federal law with profound practical importance to the nation.”
That decision, they argued, had “deprived voters, candidates and the commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts.”
The state Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers had violated the multipart process to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
State supreme courts are typically the final word in interpreting their own constitutions, and the U.S. Supreme Court does not usually review those rulings.
But in the application on Monday, the Virginia officials argued that the justices should weigh in because the state court’s ruling revolved around what they contend is a question of federal law — the definition of “Election Day.”
[…]
In Virginia, to be adopted, a constitutional amendment must be passed in the legislature twice, with a statewide election occurring between. In a 4-to-3 decision, the state court justices found that the first passage of the amendment came too late to be valid because, by the time the General Assembly acted, more than a million early voters had already cast their ballots in the 2025 general election.
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I’ll give them credit for effort, but the Virginia Supreme Court ruled on a state matter. The issue at hand involved the state constitution. Legal experts have already dissected this filing, with some suggesting the Court will deny this motion without dissenting opinions. The Supreme Court is expected to decide on May 14th.
As expected, this is a crazy filing. Virginia makes two arguments in support of its request for an emergency stay.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) May 11, 2026
1. It contends that the state supreme court's interpretation of the Virginia constitution is "predicated ... on a grave misreading of federal law." But the court… https://t.co/5d2r8VLBLE
Very weird that cover page states "On Emergency Application to the Supreme Court of Virginia." That's the styling for a petition for a writ of certiorari, but it makes no sense to say that the emergency application is "to" the Supreme Court of Virginia. pic.twitter.com/DPcVFTQwjZ
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) May 11, 2026
Uhhhh... citing federal cases as persuasive (not controlling, ie, precedential) authority, as the #SCOVA did in its Friday ruling, does not provide the #SCOTUS w/ jurisdiction.
— Ken Cuccinelli II (@KenCuccinelli) May 11, 2026
I think we need some remedial civics classes among certain Va. elected officials@ETI_now https://t.co/UtQeyeT2Ab
It’s just a tantrum. That’s all. A lot of legalese to say, ‘we’re mad, we violated state constitutional norms and got lost.’
The Virginia Supreme Court justice who authored the opinion was appointed to the state court of appeals by then-Gov. Mark Warner.
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts orders response to Virginia's application by 5PM ET on May 14
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) May 11, 2026
(25A1240) https://t.co/3E1ajVqIIz pic.twitter.com/6j2CTI6MHj
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