“BREAKING: Virginia Supreme Court halts trial court order blocking preparations for congressional redistricting referendum” – Marc Elias

Breaking news, courtesy of Marc Elias of Democracy Docket:

“BREAKING: Virginia Supreme Court halts trial court order blocking preparations for congressional redistricting referendum. The special election will move forward with early voting beginning on Mar. 6. A defeat for the GOP and victory for Virginia voters.”

Here’s more detail and also a link to the Virginia Supreme Court order, which “grant[s] the petition for review, stay[s] the temporary restraining order
(“TRO”), and rule[s] on various other motions arising out of this case.”

Good stuff; now, we just need to vote to pass the referendum, with early voting starting this Friday and continuing through April 21. Let’s do it!

P.S. Also, former VA Del. Tim Anderson (R) just tweeted:

“The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that the referendum election will proceed, staying the circuit court’s injunction that had temporarily blocked it.

The Court did not decide whether the amendment process was constitutional. Instead, it relied on a long-standing principle in Virginia law: courts generally do not use injunctions to stop elections before they happen. The reasoning goes back over a century — elections are considered a political process, and courts typically review their legality after the voters have acted, not before.

The Court cited precedent explaining that even if an election may ultimately be invalid, the judiciary should not prevent people from going to the polls. If the amendment is later adopted, courts can then determine whether the process complied with the Constitution and whether the result is valid.

Importantly, the Court emphasized that the underlying constitutional challenges are still very serious and remain pending. The stay only means the election will occur — not that the legal arguments against the process have been rejected.

In short: • The election will go forward. • The constitutional challenges are still alive. • The courts may ultimately decide the validity after the vote occurs.”

Also, from Sam Shirazi:

“Democrats are celebrating this ruling But it is very procedural in nature Virginia Supreme Court says “these issues are of grave concern to the Court” Just won’t stop vote Could just mean they will take their time to decide final issue But the case is far from over…”

And: