Democrat officials in Virginia asked SCOTUS to put a hold on their state Supreme Court ruling nullifying the redistricting referendum. Virginia argues that its high court is in conflict with federal law regarding what constitutes election day. That allegedly intruded on the legislature. They want the Court to say that Election Day is a multi-day event? This won’t get that far. They didn’t even ask for the right relief. They are going to get a rejection from the Court without even a dissent.
“Even if the Supreme Court were to grant Virginia’s emergency application for a stay (it won’t), that would still leave in place the lower-court injunction that the state Supreme Court affirmed. So Virginia isn’t even asking for the right relief—i.e., vacatur of the injunction,” writes Ed Whelan.
Ed Whelan calls it “a crazy filing.”
“Virginia makes two arguments in support of its request for an emergency stay.
“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 merely cited a Supreme Court case as informative on and supportive of the general meaning of “election.” This comes nowhere close to meeting the high bar of showing that the court ruled on a federal question.
“2. Invoking the narrow exception left open in Moore v. Harper (2023), it contends that the court’s ruling so “transgressed the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that it arrogated to itself the power vested in the state legislature to regulate federal elections.” But no justice is going to find the court’s ruling manifestly bonkers.”
Furthermore, they sent it to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The attorney general of Virginia, Jay Jones, filed an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court, asking it to overrule the Virginia State Supreme Court’s ruling. It looks like he used spellcheck this go-round, but didn’t change templates. This one is still going to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
The incompetence is out of the ballpark.
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
As expected, this is a crazy filing. Virginia makes two arguments in support of its request for an emergency stay.
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— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) May 11, 2026
A further very important point by @alangura: Even if the Supreme Court were to grant Virginia’s emergency application for a stay (it won’t), that would still leave in place the lower-court injunction that the state supreme court affirmed. So Virginia isn’t even asking for the… pic.twitter.com/qz5bIkWKkj
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) May 11, 2026