Swansenreport

Virginia AG Files SCOTUS Appeal — Addressed to the Wrong Court

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones rushed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday asking the nation’s highest court to reinstate the voter-approved redistricting map that the Virginia Supreme Court struck down last Friday. There’s just one problem: the cover page of the filing addressed it to the “Supreme Court of Virginia” — the very court that just ruled against him.

Jones’ office apparently forgot to change the template from a previous state-level filing. One observer noted that while Jones “may have sent it through spellcheck this time, he failed to change templates.” The header on page one of the 270-page emergency application to Chief Justice John Roberts reads, in formal legal script: “On Emergency Application to the Supreme Court of Virginia.” Local 12

It was the second embarrassing filing error in a week. Jones’ previous emergency filing at the state level contained multiple misspellings, including “Virgnia” instead of Virginia and “sentator” instead of senator — errors that drew widespread mockery online and in conservative media. 13WHAM

The underlying legal argument is substantive, even if the presentation has been chaotic. Jones and Virginia House Speaker Don Scott filed the 270-page emergency application to Roberts on Monday, arguing the Virginia Supreme Court “overrode the will of the people” and that its ruling could throw Virginia’s 2026 election system into chaos. Absentee ballot preparations begin next month, congressional primaries are less than three months away, and Jones argued that without a quick U.S. Supreme Court intervention, Virginia may run out of time to finalize districts and prepare ballots. MyNews4

Jones’ legal arguments rest on two U.S. Supreme Court cases — one involving the definition of Election Day currently before the Court in a Mississippi mail-in ballot case, and another based on a 2023 ruling involving North Carolina redistricting. The filing argues the Virginia Supreme Court adopted an interpretation of “Election Day” and the constitutional amendment process that conflicts with federal law. CNN

The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet responded to the emergency stay request. If Roberts declines to intervene quickly, Virginia’s existing Republican-friendly congressional map — which gives Republicans a 6-5 advantage in the delegation — will remain in place for November.

Sources: Western Journal | Townhall | WTVR CBS 6 Richmond | Daily Voice | Virginia Mercury