Hey VA Gov Spanberger - Can't Fool All the People All of the Time, SCOVA Is Already Prepping Their Briefs
What happens when a politician RAMS an action through whilst ignoring all rules, regulations, and protocols?
The “yes” vote has won Va’s redistricting referendum - but the legal fight is just beginning.
4 VA Constitutional Challenges Are Now Teed Up
3 challenges to the amendment process itself
1: First passage was invalid. The amendment was taken up during a special session convened in 2024 for budget purposes. The General Assembly’s own call to the Governor (under Art. IV, §6 and Art. V, §5) and its governing resolution (HJR 6001) limited the session’s scope. Expanding it to include a constitutional amendment on redistricting required a two-thirds vote that never occurred. A Tazewell County judge found this action “void, ab initio.”
2: Aricle XII, §1 requires that after first passage, a proposed amendment be “referred to the General Assembly at its first regular session held after the next general election of members of the House of Delegates.” An election must intervene between first and second passage. Here, first passage occurred during an election cycle — not before an intervening one.
3: ArticleXII, §1 requires the amendment be submitted to voters “not sooner than ninety days after final passage by the General Assembly.” The timeline from second passage to the April 21 vote did not satisfy this requirement.
Plus ONE challenge to the proposed maps
4: Article II, §6 requires that “every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory.” The proposed congressional maps violate this contiguity requirement (rather badly).
Next stop, court.
Stay tuned.
By the way folks, this is going to move FAST - not the usual "court speed".
Look for another Tazewell ruling as early as this week, and briefing in the VA Supreme Court this week…
About Ken Cuccenilli II
46th VA Attorney General
Acting Deputy Secretary DHS 2019-21
Leads Election Transparency Initiative: @ETI_now
Sr. Fellow, Immigration & Homeland Security: @AmRenewCtr
Kenneth Thomas “Ken” Cuccinelli II is an American lawyer and politician born on July 30, 1968, in Edison, New Jersey. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia, a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law, and an M.A. in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University. Cuccinelli is a member of the Republican Party.
Cuccinelli served as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021 and was also the Principal Deputy and Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Prior to his federal roles, he was Virginia’s Attorney General and a member of the Virginia State Senate, representing the 37th District.
During his tenure, Cuccinelli played a role in immigration policy. He was also approached by Rudy Giuliani after the 2020 election with pre-written executive orders to seize voting machines, a plan Cuccinelli ultimately did not implement, citing departmental protocols. Cuccinelli currently serves as a Senior Fellow for Homeland Security and Immigration for the Center for Renewing America and as general counsel to the FreedomWorks Regulatory Action Center and president of the Senate Conservatives Fund.
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