The Supreme Court of the United States has denied a request from Democratic Party officials in Virginia seeking to block a state court ruling that invalidated a voter-approved redistricting initiative.
The Supreme Court issued a brief one-sentence order declining to intervene and did not provide an explanation for its decision. No justices publicly dissented.
Legal analysts had viewed federal intervention as unlikely because the dispute centered on questions of state constitutional law.
Earlier this week, Virginia Democrats asked the nation’s highest court to overturn a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Virginia, which struck down the state’s redistricting ballot measure ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
In an emergency filing submitted Monday, Jay Jones argued that the Virginia Supreme Court had been “deeply mistaken” in invalidating the measure.
Jones contended that the state court’s ruling relied on what he described as a flawed interpretation of “election day” requirements and improperly limited the authority granted to state legislatures under the U.S. Constitution to oversee federal elections.
He also urged the justices to act swiftly, warning that “the window for orderly administration of Virginia’s congressional elections is closing rapidly.”
