by Scott Dreyer

The State Supreme Court on April 28 rejected the Attorney General’s emergency appeal to certify the votes from the April 21, yes/no gerrymandering vote. The high court will not accept the controversial results of the election but instead continue to deliberate before issuing an opinion.

reported that on April 21 a majority of “yes” votes in Fairfax County, which were late reported, pushed the “yes’ side to victory with a margin over 80,000.

On April 22, Judge Jack Hurley of Tazewell County, issued an injunction prohibiting the state from certifying ballots. Hurley criticized the “biased”, worded ballot question in RNC V. Koski as well as the state laws that the “yes” supporters broke to put the issue up for a vote. (Unlike many Roanoke media outlets, the Roanoke star covered this important story right here.

On April 27, the State Supreme Court, in response to Judge Hurley’s injunction began hearing oral arguments on both sides of the issue. The lines for Virginia’s eleven Congressional districts are at stake. Early voting begins in September for these elections.

Observers of the court thought that the Justices’ questioning on April 27 showed skepticism towards the “yes” camp.

Attorney General Jay Jones, who was in the news last October for his scandalous texts, where he fantasized the murder of two GOP lawmakers and their sons. He used his position as Virginia’s attorney to appeal urgently to the State Supreme Court, requesting that the election be certified.

The results and voting would be certified, and Virginia’s Congressional map would change for the fall elections. The new maps were designed using classical gerrymandering to create 10 Democratic seats and one Republican seat.

On April 28, Delegate Wren Williams, R-Stuart, posted the following to his twitter/X account:

“BREAKING: Supreme Court of Virginia denied Attorney General’s Motion for Emergency Stay RNC v. Koski, where he did not quote the ballot language.

“One sentence. No dissent. No partial relief.

“Upon consideration of which, the Court denies this motion.”

What this means in plain English:

“Jay Jones’ outside counsel from California requested the Court to permit the election process to continue pending the decisions on the merits in the gerrymandering case.

The Court has ruled that the elections cannot be certified at this time.

The same Supreme Court which allowed the referendum in March to proceed so that voters could be heard has declined to overturn a final judgement finding the constitutional amendment procedure defective. Virginia sends a strong signal that the process is important.

The Attorney General requested that the Court of Virginia set aside a decision that revealed a ballot question he refused to quote, a timeline under Article XII he had redefined, and a case from 1912 that didn’t say what he wanted it to.

The Supreme Court said “no”

The merits appeal is continuing. “I will keep you updated as to how this unfolds.”

It is believed that the State Supreme Court’s opinion will be issued in May due to the importance of the matter and because Congressional districts need to be clearly defined before the voting for 2026 midterms starts in September.

You can view the letter of the State Supreme Court from April 28, denying the request for emergency, here .

Roanoke resident Scott Dreyer is the leader of a team that teaches English and ESL around the world. Republished by The Roanoke Star.