1srelluc
Diamond Member
Court Halts April 21 Redistricting Vote, Siding with RNC and GOP Lawmakers
A Tazewell County Circuit Court judge on Thursday granted an emergency injunction blocking what Republicans call an unlawful April 21 redistricting referendum while the case is heard in court. Chief […]
royalexaminer.com
A Tazewell County Circuit Court judge on Thursday granted an emergency injunction blocking what Republicans call an unlawful April 21 redistricting referendum while the case is heard in court.
Chief Judge Jack Hurley issued a temporary restraining order barring state and local election officials from moving forward with the planned vote. The move handed the plaintiffs in the case — the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and U.S. Reps. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt County, and Morgan Griffith, R-Salem — a brief reprieve in a high-stakes fight that could reshape Virginia’s congressional map ahead of the midterms.
In his written ruling, Hurley found the plaintiffs have an “extraordinarily high likelihood of success on the merits,” including their claim that the referendum violates the timing requirement of Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution because early voting is set for “sooner than 90 days after” the January passage of House Joint Resolution 4.
Hurley also found the ballot language — particularly the phrase “restore fairness” — is likely misleading and violates the Constitution because it “would lead a voter to believe he or she were doing something unfair by voting against the proposed amendment.”
The order states that “the equities of this case warrant temporary relief ‘for the limited purpose of preserving the status quo between the parties pending a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction.”
The court denied the commonwealth’s motions to transfer venue and to stay the case, and ordered that the defendants are “temporarily restrained” from administering or taking action to advance the referendum.
The order remains in effect until March 18, unless modified or extended.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones pledged to “immediately appeal” the ruling in a Thursday evening statement.
I don't know how long this will hold on appeal but it's good news for right-leaning Virginians who look to be almost entirely disenfranchised by the dems.
Time will tell.
