The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Advance Project on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse Virginia’s high court ruling striking down the state’s redistricting referendum, arguing the decision nullified the votes of millions of Virginians who approved the measure last month.
The civil rights groups filed an amicus brief nearly a week after the Supreme Court of Virginia upheld a lower court ruling that blocked certification of the April 21 vote and declared the election invalid over constitutional problems tied to the amendment process.
The referendum would have allowed Virginia to redraw its congressional map adopted in 2021 in response to similar efforts already underway in several Republican-led states at the request of President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Democrats hoped the measure could eventually lead to a congressional map favoring their party in as many as 10 of Virginia’s 11 U.S. House districts. Under the current map, Democrats hold six seats while Republicans hold five.
In their filing, the NAACP and Advancement Project argue the Supreme Court of Virginia improperly threw out the votes of more than 3.1 million Virginians who participated in the special election.
“To reach this outcome, the Virginia Supreme Court adopted an anomalous and unprecedented definition of the word ‘election’ that conflicts with both state and federal law,” the groups wrote.
The organizations also pointed to their own voter outreach efforts during the referendum campaign, particularly among Black voters. According to the filing, the NAACP contacted more than 150,000 Black voters statewide in support of the amendment.
“The NAACP will not stand by idly in the face of this blatant attempt to overrule the will of Virginia voters,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. He added that volunteers called 80,000 voters and canvassed communities across the commonwealth “to ensure Virginians have the right to elect who they’d like” to represent them.
“The people have spoken, and we’ll fight to make sure they’re heard,” Johnson said.
The Rev. Cozy Bailey, president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference, accused opponents of the referendum of spreading misinformation during the campaign through “flyers, mailers, and billboards designed to sow doubt and silence” Black voters.
“They lost,” Bailey said. “Now they’re crying foul to try to undo what the people decided.”
John Powers, legal director for the Advancement Project, said that the General Assembly complied with state and federal law when it approved the referendum and placed it before voters.
“Virginia voters spoke loud and clear in April’s special election,” Powers said. “The will of the people should be respected and their ballots should not be thrown out.”
The legal fight began after several Republican lawmakers and opponents of the referendum sued, arguing the legislature violated the state code by advancing the amendment before the required public notice period had run out before the Nov. 4 general election.
Democratic leaders have already asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene earlier this week, though legal experts say the appeal faces long odds because the dispute largely centers on Virginia constitutional procedure rather than federal law.
