August 3, 2022
 |
Virginia Capitol Building

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a second lawsuit seeking to force members of Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates to hold an unscheduled election this year.

U.S. District Judge David Novak found that federal courts lack the authority to grant the “extreme remedy” of ordering new elections for all 100 members of the state House of Delegates using newly drawn legislative maps.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Jeff Thomas, an author who has written extensively about Virginia politics and government. Thomas and two other plaintiffs — the current and former president of the Loudoun County chapter of the NAACP — alleged their voting strength and political representation were unconstitutionally diluted or weakened by the state’s failure to complete redistricting before the 2021 elections.

The 2021 elections were supposed to be the first held under constitutionally required redistricting based on the 2020 census. But because census results were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state held elections under the old legislative boundaries. The new maps were not finalized until December, a month after the elections were held.

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U.S. District Judge David Novak said in his ruling that ordering new elections would “effectively overturn the results of a proper election and dissolve the current House of Delegates,” shortening the terms of the delegates from two years to one.

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