{"id":2601400,"date":"2026-05-11T17:59:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-democrats-ask-supreme-court-to-reinstate-nullified-redistricting-amendment\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T18:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:02:18","slug":"virginia-democrats-ask-supreme-court-to-reinstate-nullified-redistricting-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-democrats-ask-supreme-court-to-reinstate-nullified-redistricting-amendment\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Democrats ask Supreme Court to reinstate nullified redistricting amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvirginia-democrats-ask-supreme-court-to-reinstate-nullified-redistricting-amendment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2601400&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and other Virginia Democratic leaders have filed an emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to reinstate a voter-approved Democratic redistricting map that the Virginia Supreme Court struck down last week. They argue the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >state court wrongly interpreted<\/a> the Virginia Constitution\u2019s term \u201celection,\u201d claiming that under federal law \u201celection\u201d refers to a single Election Day in November, not the broader early-voting period that begins in September.  <\/p>\n<p>The Virginia Supreme Court had ruled 4-3 that the referendum was null and void because the legislature sent the constitutional amendment to voters after more than a million ballots were already cast during early voting; the amendment had been approved narrowly, and it likely would have dramatically increased Democrats\u2019 congressional advantage.  <\/p>\n<p>The petition contends the Virginia court\u2019s decision conflicts with federal election and supremacy principles and improperly expanded the meaning of \u201celection.\u201d Observers say the effort is unlikely because the dispute centers on interpretation of the state constitution, and the U.S. Supreme Court typically does not review state-court rulings unless a clear federal constitutional issue is at stake.Chief Justice John Roberts will decide whether to deny the petition or send it to the full Court.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>Virginia Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jay-jones\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"19766\">Jay Jones<\/a> filed a long-shot emergency petition to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"203\">Supreme Court<\/a> on Monday, urging it to reinstate the voter-approved Democratic gerrymander of the state\u2019s congressional map, which the Virginia Supreme Court <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4551658\/virginia-supreme-court-blocks-redistricting-referendum\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4551658\/virginia-supreme-court-blocks-redistricting-referendum\/\">struck down<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<p>The petition, filed on behalf of Jones and other Democratic leaders in Virginia, argued that the Virginia Supreme Court erred in ruling that an \u201celection\u201d in the Virginia constitution includes the early voting period, instead arguing that under federal law, an \u201celection\u201d refers to a singular day.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4563668\/virginia-democrats-ask-supreme-court-to-reinstate-nullified-redistricting-amendment\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Virginia Democrats ask Supreme Court to reinstate nullified redistricting amendment<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4563517\/supreme-court-temporarily-preserves-online-abortion-pill-sales\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Supreme Court temporarily preserves online abortion pill sales<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4558753\/trump-mandatory-detention-policy-poised-supreme-court-review\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-mandatory-detention-policy-appears-poised-for-supreme-court-review\/\" title=\"Trump&#039;s mandatory detention policy appears poised for ... review\">mandatory detention policy appears poised<\/a> for Supreme Court review<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>\u201cThe basis for that holding was the Court\u2019s view that, contrary to the Constitution\u2019s own definition of the term \u2018election\u2019 to refer to a single day in November, the term instead encompasses the entire period of early voting beginning in September,\u201d the petition reads. \u201cBased on that novel and manifestly atextual interpretation, the Court overrode the will of the people who ratified the amendment by ordering the Commonwealth to conduct its election with the congressional districts that the people rejected.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Friday that Democrats in the state legislature violated the Virginia Constitution when sending the referendum to voters. The Virginia Constitution requires ballot measures to be voted on by the state legislature in two stages, with an election in between to give voters the opportunity to weigh the amendment when they vote for their representatives.<\/p>\n<p>The majority ruled that because the state legislature passed the constitutional amendment after more than a million votes had been cast through early voting in the 2025 election, the April 21 referendum was null and void. Voters had narrowly approved the new congressional map in the referendum, which likely would have shifted the commonwealth\u2019s congressional delegation from a 6-5 Democratic advantage to a 10-1 Democratic advantage.<\/p>\n<p>The petition to the U.S. Supreme Court claims that the Virginia Supreme Court had two key issues with its ruling in conflict with federal law. <\/p>\n<p>The first issue alleged by Virginia Democrats is that \u201cit predicated its interpretation of the Virginia Constitution on a grave misreading of federal law, which expressly fixes a single day for the \u2018election\u2019 of Representatives and Delegates to Congress.\u201d The second issue, according to the petition, is that the state Supreme Court went beyond ordinary judicial review to find that early voting is included in the definition of an election.<\/p>\n<p>The last-ditch effort by Virginia Democrats is widely considered a long shot, especially considering that the lawsuit appealed from the Virginia Supreme Court deals with issues interpreting the Old Dominion\u2019s constitution, rather than the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court typically lacks jurisdiction to review cases appealed from state supreme courts that do not have a federal constitutional issue at the center.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4561533\/virginia-democrats-supreme-court-appeal-redistricting-loss\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"4561533\">VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MAKE LONG-SHOT SUPREME COURT APPEAL AFTER REDISTRICTING LOSS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The petition from Virginia Democrats argues the U.S. Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear the appeal by pointing to the federal claims under the elections and supremacy clauses of the U.S. Constitution, as well as to the federal law setting Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency petitions out of Virginia, will decide whether to reject the petition on his own or refer the petition to the full Supreme Court for a decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia AG\u2019s emergency bid urges Supreme Court to restore gerrymander<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2601403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26093602356506.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[3685,16985,32275,5468],"class_list":["post-2601400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-democrats","tag-redistricting","tag-supreme-court","tag-virginia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26093602356506.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601400"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2601405,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601400\/revisions\/2601405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2601403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2601400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2601400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}