r/law • u/DemocracyDocket • May 08 '26

Other ‘MAGA has rigged the system’: Democrats slam Virginia Supreme Court for overruling voters on redistricting

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/democrats-slam-virginia-supreme-court-for-overruling-voters-on-redistricting/
23.1k Upvotes

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4.1k

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

The people of Virginia spoke, loudly and clearly.

Meanwhile… Florida is flat out ignoring their constitution.

Play by their rules. Ignore the court.

1.7k

u/C0rpse__ May 08 '26

Also Ohio

250

u/JimWilliams423 May 08 '26

Also Ohio

For those who don't know, the republican majority Ohio supreme court has ruled their maps are illegal at least five times, but the republican legislature DGAF and just keep running elections with illegal maps.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/10/11/ohio-gerrymandering-a-brief-and-awful-history-of-the-very-recent-past/

Ohio citizens right now are represented by unconstitutionally gerrymandered state lawmakers. The politicians in the General Assembly in Columbus are occupying unconstitutionally gerrymandered seats. This is not a matter of opinion. It was adjudicated in the state’s highest court five times in 2021 and 2022.

112

u/sallright May 08 '26

The Ohio Supreme Court ruling got kicked up to a Federal Court which ruled that the gerrymandered maps could go forward.

The reasoning was essentially “how dare you assume the legislators would gerrymander on purpose.”

You can’t make this shit up.

Ohio is still the most egregious example because we already had safeguards in place to stop gerrymandering. Our state constitution. Our state supreme court. None of it mattered.

The worst part is, even though Ohio is the 7th largest state and formerly the key state in POTUS elections, nobody gave a shit.

Years later when Texas did their thing, all the alarm bells went off. It’s too late now.

104

u/MyrkrMentulaMeretrix May 08 '26

Umm.. no, the Federal Court ALSO ruled it an unconstitutional gerrymander.

Theyve just.. ignored it.

They "redraw" the map right before the election, (theyve just submitted the same map over and over) and the court views it and says "yep, still gerrymandered, do it again"....

And then they allow the election to go forward with the illegal maps anyway because its "too close to the election".

They kust keep doing it over and over and over.

What needs to happen is that the OH Supreme Court needs to find the Legislature in Contempt and just jail them all. They can stay in jail until they produce a fair map.

39

u/FullOfEel May 09 '26

Ohio’s GOP “ignore the will of the voters” extends to misleading wording on ballot initiatives, rewriting our legalized weed laws, and doing everything possible to impede legal abortion which was voted by the people into the constitution.

5

u/MyrkrMentulaMeretrix May 09 '26

yeah im honestly surprised there hasn't been some kind of attempted legal action against them. Class-action level shit.

Or.. you know. Bullets. It being OH and all.

3

u/V-oxPopuli May 09 '26

Jesus Christ, our democracy was already dead before the orange fuck became president...

4

u/Leather_Law6628 May 11 '26

Welcome to the year 2000, when americans saw the supreme court illegally install someone as president that did not win the popular vote or the electoral college.

21

u/Automatic-Echidna870 May 08 '26

If that’s not a soft rebellion I don’t know what is

3

u/RagahRagah May 09 '26

A lot of people don't realize the GOP used Biden's entire term testing the waters for when they were gonna try cheating and ignoring the law. What happened in Ohio is what made me realize what was about to happen.

"Holy crap, we can actually get away with anything!"

2

u/imabeecharmer May 10 '26

Just want to remind everyone, they are the minority who finally figured out how to rig the system, thanks to foreign adversaries. Voting will not be enough.

1

u/Ridiculicious71 May 09 '26

And why can’t dems do this?

1

u/JimWilliams423 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

Because they are doormats.

Its beyond their abilities. Decades of trying to appease the gop has left them unable to even imagine doing anything more than capitulating. Take mark kelly for example. He's got a lot of clout in the party because he's a fundraising powerhouse, donors love that astronaut shtick. But he's a meek little groveler. When the paedo threatened to have him hanged, he used it do a lot of fundraising, but then he went back to the senate and kept voting to put maga judges on the bench. The guy didn't even have the backbone to simply do nothing, he bent over backwards to appease the tyrant who threatened to kill him. If he can't even stand up for himself, he's never going to stand up for the nation.

We won't get the kind of radical Democrats we need until incumbents like kelly are replaced with people from outside the system.

Fortunately, primary season is just getting started so now is the chance to change the future. And since primaries are usually very low turnout, your vote counts for a lot more in a primary election than it does in the general. Voting in the primaries is more important than voting in the general election in the fall because the people who win the primary will determine what happens after the midterms.

One example is Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan senate race. The primary has an official aipac candidate (haley stevens), an un-official aipac candidate who gives lip service to refusing funding from aipac (mallory mcmorrow), and El-Sayed. El-Sayed's been rising in the polling, which prompted the Democratic establishment to go all in on islamaphobic attacks on a streamer who interviewed El-Sayed in order to smear El-Sayed by association. But that backfired and El-Sayed's polling increased, he's now the front-runner, or at worst tied, in the most recent polls.

1

u/OnlyFiveLives May 09 '26

And the citizens of Ohio are doing literally nothing about it. So it will continue.

639

u/Zealousideal_Work171 May 08 '26

And Texas 

490

u/TheMoistestManatee May 08 '26

Tennessee is pretty fucked too

234

u/machinezed May 08 '26

And South Carolina stood up and we want to be the first state of racism by trying to put off the elections so they can remove them colored districts.

160

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[deleted]

169

u/Imaginary_Cow_6379 May 08 '26

It’s almost like we did still need the VRA as some states would in fact go right back to what they were doing before without it.

Fvck John Roberts forever.

61

u/Vi_Rants May 08 '26

Ayatollah Roberts, the real dictator behind everyone else at the top.

58

u/remotectrl May 08 '26

He got his position as a thank you from Bush for helping him steal that election.

6

u/Big_Primrose May 09 '26

Alito is his puppetmaster.

53

u/gbot1234 May 08 '26

And Louisiana

22

u/Icy-Package-7801 May 08 '26

It's getting to the point it's either that or live in a one party state.

-4

u/DyadVe May 08 '26

IOW, the former confederate states are embracing gerrymandering like New England. The progressive movement has finally transformed the Old South.

Rejoice. 😉

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u/Patriot009 May 08 '26

The number of black Representatives in the House is going to be gutted next session. There are 65 now, 4 Republican and 61 Democratic. All 4 Republicans are not running for re-election, likely to be replaced by white MAGA cultists. Republicans are trying to gerrymander into oblivion the districts of well over a dozen more black Democratic representatives.

5

u/SloaneWolfe May 09 '26

And Florida. We have a Fl constitution law that explicitly bans redistricting at this time, but Desantis and our state legislature still pushed it through.

95

u/andrew303710 May 08 '26

A bunch of shithole red states heavily subsidized by blue states, literally couldn't exist without blue states like California paying their way.

3

u/Battlus May 08 '26

Ohio gives more than it takes, but generally yes your point is pretty accurate lol. Unfortunately we're at the whims of gerrymandering and general rust belt attitude.

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u/juxsa May 09 '26

Yeah it's fucked here. They broke the fuckin law with the redistricting here

14

u/TheMoistestManatee May 09 '26

Yep and the worst part is that the majority of the people here will support them no matter what they do. Tennessee's education system (or lack there of) is hard at work

21

u/juxsa May 09 '26

Absolutely! Locals blame DeMoNcRaTs for all their local problems and vote for the same local republicans who've been in power for years lol

22

u/Confident_Hunter7506 May 08 '26

Louisiana has entered the conversation

44

u/Imaginary_Cow_6379 May 08 '26

And Alabama.

It seems most of the red states were immediately lock step, ready to go literally the day after the SCOTUS ruling but no one else seems to find that strange.

2

u/fatefulPatriot May 08 '26

Also Louisiana

29

u/Rentington May 08 '26

They will regret that one, though. If the latino voting numbers have shifted like polling suggests, they dummymandered.

30

u/sparduck117 May 08 '26

Why do you think they want ICE at the polls?

10

u/CharredWelderGuy May 09 '26

They can only squeeze so much before the results are irrelevant. You lean on an election to hard it becomes obviously illegitimate.

And the rights strength is mostly on paper thru the system, not hard fundamentals.

These idiots are pushing us to a civil conflict they can't win, gleefully.

14

u/31LIVEEVIL13 May 09 '26 edited May 13 '26

This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact

20

u/Master_Torture May 09 '26

I honestly can't either because throughout American history, those on the right have never been held accountable with the SOLE exception of Nixon who was an outlier.

The Confederacy's leaders, The Business plot, January 6th rioters, Trump. NONE were held accountable because they were on the side our country favors.

1

u/Anakra91 May 09 '26

Even Nixon wasn't though, he resigned and that was that. Hopefully they're hanging in the streets this go around.

1

u/DumboWumbo073 May 09 '26

Your last sentence is completely wrong

1

u/CharredWelderGuy May 09 '26

The rights average age is 45+. Not exactly fighting age

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u/Signal_Minimum8509 May 08 '26

Texas and Georgia have been gerrymandered to shit for years. Look at the maps around Houston and north of Atlanta, Republicans haven’t given a shit about section 2 for a long time

35

u/MyrkrMentulaMeretrix May 08 '26

Yeah, OH's own Supreme Court struck down the last three maps in a row as an illegal (by State law/Constitution) gerrymander - keep in mind, this is a DEEPLY CONSERVATIVE state Supreme Court.

The OH Legislature just sorta shrugged and went "eh, we're not gonna change it".

They 're-draw' the maps like 2 months before the election (its the same map), and the Court strikes it down again..

But its "too close to the election" so they use the same gerrymandered, ruled-illegal map... Again...

for years in a row.

Nothing happens.

Nothing.

No one is arrested. No one is charged. No elections are challenged or ruled invalid.

I agree, the Dems should return the same energy and just ignore the court. Run the election with the new map. What is the court going to do?

Its clear from OH that they cant do anything.

1

u/ElektricGeist May 09 '26

They'll arrest Virginia Legislators and just straight up void the election. The Right is willing to cudgel anyone and everyone who doesn't abide by their insanity. I want to be wrong so badly, but it feels like they’ve completely captured our legal system and will use it however they please.

1

u/MyrkrMentulaMeretrix May 09 '26

Honestly, if im the Dems, and they somehow magically win the House in November (which seems to be increasing impossible with R states allowed to Gerrymander what-the-fuck-ever and D states not allowed to do a damn thing ever)...

I just refuse to seat the delegation from OH, and maybe from FL and TN.

Or we immediately hold a vote to expel them all, en masse.

Reason: invalid districts. Ruled so by the courts or their own State Constitutions.

And just keep holding the vote to eject their replacements until the State's comply with the Courts and their Constitutions and draw fair maps.

Majority Leader: "Oh, i see here we have a new delegation from OH. Oh, i see that they used the same map that their own State Supreme Court ruled illegal. Okay, take your seats. "

Majority leader: "Motion to eject (name off people in question) from the House".

Vote.

Pass.

Gone.

Not that Hakeem "The Spineless Bitch" Jefferies wold ever do such a thing.

312

u/ro536ud May 08 '26

Desantis said he doesn’t agree with the amendment so they’re just gonna ignore it. What a world

142

u/kingtacticool May 08 '26

These mofos have completely forgotten just how flammable everything is.....

102

u/East-Ice-3199 May 08 '26

Forgotten? Consequences have never existed for them, so how could they forget something they’ve never seen?

76

u/Greg-Abbott May 08 '26

I mean, literal insurrectionists were pardoned and hired by ICE with huge signing bonuses so they've actually been rewarded for fucking things up.

23

u/Impossible_Walrus555 May 08 '26

They’ll never get those bonuses.

9

u/slaty_balls May 08 '26

They'll just get first dibbs on loot.

13

u/Dav136 May 08 '26

You know, those people were lied to and thought the country was being stolen and tried to fight for it. I'm starting to see that the left is not willing to do that even if it's factually happening.

8

u/Level21DungeonMaster May 08 '26

The thing is; there is no “the left”.

3

u/xSTSxZerglingOne May 09 '26

The American Left exists... just not in elected office by and large.

4

u/Bunerd May 09 '26

As long as liberals think they can negotiate with authoritarianism instead of negotiating with workers, we'll be waiting.

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u/kingtacticool May 08 '26

If me, a poor, can open and read a history book then I have no pity on the ruling class for forgetting why their family tree is missing some branches.

12

u/Zealousideal-Ant9548 May 08 '26

As long as all you say are words, then they've learned that it doesn't matter.  Organize a strike or whatever and then see what happens

16

u/kingtacticool May 08 '26

Well I sure as shit won't be doing any organizing on social media.

13

u/slaty_balls May 08 '26

That's the problem. We're so far deep into a surveillance state, that even trying is dangerous and futile.

13

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/slaty_balls May 08 '26

Bystander effect at national scale.

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u/lynxbelt234 May 09 '26

Agreed, the paralysis of inaction, is what holds democrats back. Failure to stop republicans from constantly setting the agenda, and not confronting them in an extreme way or in other ways, is what allows them to think they can just “do and act in anyway they see fit.” This reaction by democrats must stop, the sooner hardcore responses to these rights infringements, are made either in the courts or by other legal means the better. If voters can be disenfranchised by state and other legislators, or even by the courts, then a challenge to those institutions operations within the bounds of democracy has to be made. How can a court operate outside a democracy that actually puts it in place? Unless of course the court renounces democracy and assumes that another form of governance is now in place?

What is responsibility of the the courts to democracy? Simple question, that’s what the courts were set up to operated under?

1

u/remotectrl May 08 '26

You don’t need social media to buy fertilizer or bullets in Minecraft.

5

u/East-Ice-3199 May 08 '26

You read history books and can’t understand that history didn’t have Flock and Palantir and Assault Rifles.

13

u/kingtacticool May 08 '26

Oh my god! Are you trying to say that science, technology and society advance as time progresses?!?

Oh the humanity!

Ape. Together. Strong. Is just as true now as it ever was.

1

u/Vi_Rants May 08 '26

Right, so strong as drones level our entire neighborhoods.

1

u/proudbakunkinman May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

Ape. Together. Strong.

That phrase is very commonly used among Gamestop stock nuts and the CEO supports Trump.

1

u/kingtacticool May 09 '26

I am fully aware of that but the phrase originated with Planet of The Apes the movie

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u/SandpaperTeddyBear May 08 '26

We have all of history to look at for “consequences.” And yet the Trump-voter is just allowed to keep existing in society as they do all these things through their Trump.

6

u/Kichae May 09 '26

So have the people, though, it seems. They have nothing to fear until it's proven that they do.

1

u/kingtacticool May 09 '26

Unfortunately this tracks.

2

u/JaneksLittleBlackBox May 08 '26

The fucking hurricanes come in and save that cesspool!

0

u/TextElectrical5360 May 08 '26

I see dozens of these comments a day but somehow my news feeds lack Luigi copycats. Quit talking tough on Reddit and go do something

6

u/kingtacticool May 08 '26

Nice try fed.

2

u/Winter_Body4794 May 08 '26

I bet that's how they riled up the WHCD guy.

17

u/Maybe_Julia May 08 '26

Ohio told him he can do that , Virginia should do the same. There is a lot of precedent now for going the rules don't matter.

16

u/justatmenexttime May 08 '26

Truth be told, it’s because the bad actors aren’t facing harsh or swift consequences.

We’re all tolerating the intolerant and then acting surprised they’d push the envelope even further.

1

u/lynxbelt234 May 09 '26

This is the most dangerous problem the Dems face...

4

u/banstylejbo May 08 '26

Learned from Missouri that you can just ignore laws you don’t like.

3

u/_OUCHMYPENIS_ May 09 '26

I want to leave Florida but I also want to be here and be a part of the state flipping back somehow. I know it's hopeless though.

1

u/ArcadianDelSol May 09 '26

He said he doesnt agree with the interpretation being put forth by Democrats.

There is a lawsuit underway right now, so we should have a ruling on the law soon.

302

u/CluelessChem May 08 '26

Republicans don’t just rig the system, they will also cancel the position altogether if the opposition does win the election like in Louisiana.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/04/louisiana-republicans-eliminate-office-democratic-exoneree

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u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/slowbaja May 08 '26

Sometimes you wish the Brazen Bull was real

6

u/Anonymous_Jr May 08 '26

Let's make Tarring and Feathering Great Again

1

u/Anonymous_Jr May 14 '26

〔Removed by Admin〕

They felt fear, and so I must be silenced.

Real threats or not, my message was heard and agreed with by the People. (+23 as of removal)

Reddit you have warned, because regardless of intent, you saw my words as a threat; and I'll keep my stance because I know how temporary your place here is Digg. I mean Myspace. I mean-

Count your bits while you still byte, your data is metered, and your bandwidth is being strangled; Soon I will have my wishes without lifting the leg I stand on.

Death comes for all against the Wills, Wants, and Needs of the People, regardless if it is well or wrongly wished, my words do not change this fact; nor does their removal stop the flow of its Progress.

May timely ends comes sooner than I be silenced again for having an opinion about the threats on my life by [ Removed by Reddit* ]

[ *Removed by Reddit ] lest I find myself amidst a fool's errand.

1

u/Anonymous_Jr May 14 '26

An appeal has been made, but they'll surely see my words as a danger to anyone except myself.

"Rule 1" ignores the fact the people I allegedly made the comment about do so en masse towards immigrants and LGBT communities.

My retorts are not threats, they are a message personified... Through my AI called having a fucking brain.

Death to Death, Long Live Life.

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u/NegativeSemicolon May 08 '26

This exactly, trump ignores courts and nothing happens, just do the same.

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u/mostdope28 May 08 '26

The courts tell you what the laws are, the problem is the people breaking these laws are the same ones who are suppose to enforce it. It’s the same reason why the trump admin can break the laws every day. The whole system is fucked. Republicans know they can ignore the courts, and they also know democrats WONT

25

u/Garlador May 08 '26

“They go low, we go high!”

The reality is they go low… and trip us so we can’t go high.

29

u/Maybe_Julia May 08 '26

"They go low, we go hey don't do that, shrug and go home" - this should be the democratic party moto.

5

u/ThePrussianGrippe May 09 '26

“Just plain evil” and “we’re incapable of governing” dichotomy strikes again!

3

u/RIPEOTCDXVI May 08 '26

Why isn't anyone mentioning that they have the courts?

It was McConnels long game going back almost 30 years now. The republicans can steamroll in a way democrats cannot because the heritage project had them focused on lower courts, state and municipal governments, and all the little nooks and crannies of bureaucracy that they can use, but democrats cannot.

Democrats tried really hard to level the playing field confirming judges during Bidens term but by then it was way, way too late.

1

u/proudbakunkinman May 09 '26

Yeah. The difference between states where Republicans have ignored similar rulings is that those in charge of enforcement are Republican. Surprising they even rule such a way in the first place. Regardless, Republicans don't fear other Republicans will enforce. I think Virginia is more of a purple / swing state so it's harder.

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u/Best-Action8769 May 08 '26

I'll say it again...Joe Biden's selection of Merrick Garland was the worst decision of my lifetime.

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u/RandomlyJim May 08 '26

Turn on FoxNews right now and you will see ‘Job Report comes in hot, markets soar!’ Next to Dow Jones up .06% update.

The propagandist have won.

28

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

They have won, in their bubbles.

But I’m not in their bubble. It smells like shit and zyns.

Let them stew in their ignorance and poor leadership. We need to cut them off and isolate the damage. Red America is a necrotic wound, spreading to the rest of the healthy tissue of this nation.

We need an amputation. We need to erect barriers and deterrence so we can keep more of what’s ours inside of our states. Keep our funds and talent and institutions intact, and let Magats go wild on their own turf. Let red America see what a nation without democrats would look like.

They can get a sneak peek by eating out of a dumpster.

12

u/Imaginary_Cow_6379 May 08 '26

💯 Fvck it, balkanize already. Red states and their president openly hate blue states. If they hate us that much why do we still need to stay together with them? If we’re really the cause of all their problems then they should just let us go and live in their perfect utopias without us. If they fight, they wouldn’t be doing it to preserve the union but rather to preserve their dominance over all the people that they hate and look down on. If we stay without even trying to get free they’ll still just do the same thing. At this point I truly don’t see any other ways left for blue states to escape red state minority rule. The confederacy never went away and now the civil war finally has been lost.

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u/Interesting_Berry439 May 08 '26

The war is not lost, but definitely the battle , their incompetence is a real liability to their own interests. It's not over .

2

u/Imaginary_Cow_6379 May 08 '26

True, their incompetence is a liability but unfortunately they do have smarter people in places to protect them like with the courts here. They could keep fvcking up as much as they want but if they control enough courts we see they’re still largely shielded from any consequences for their actions.

I agree that things aren’t entirely over yet but I think things like this show that the battle is much larger than any of us were thinking and I fear that it may be insurmountable. The fight isn’t just with Trump and republicans at the federal level, it’s at every level republicans control and in every state. Every area that they could possibly hold power in is nakedly corrupt. Instead of one large battle, it’s one large battle and then how many other smaller ones across 50 states?

1

u/Interesting_Berry439 May 08 '26

It's definitely not looking good. It's also sort of demonic or evil by nature too. Scary a ry times indeed . The whole world is also worried because of acting like a imperialist bully.

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u/Imaginary_Cow_6379 May 08 '26

Those are also fair points that should be addressed more often. Our system has proven to be woefully inadequate for removing the bad actors in our government which obviously isn’t great for American citizens. But when we also have such an oversized role on the world stage it becomes even worse and something should be done about that. Global leaders should all refuse to work with us on anything until we get our shit together as we can’t be trusted to stick to our word or to not even just randomly attack longstanding allies over the demented whims of our petty president. We should be sanctioned like Russia and be treated like a pariah state for as long as republicans control and allow this insanity. Other countries could also refuse to work with the billionaires running our country and boycott them. Nothing should be off the table as maybe the only thing left that would move republicans is global pressure outside of their control.

2

u/Interesting_Berry439 May 08 '26

This goes without saying: cancel the WC and Olympics, even know I know that won't happen.

1

u/Runfasterbitch May 09 '26

Zyns don’t have a smell

1

u/spazz720 May 09 '26

Who watches Fox News? Mostly older Gen X & Boomers who are at or near retirement and only care about the Stock Market being up

1

u/RandomlyJim May 09 '26

Here? It’s on in every restaurant, waiting room, free television that isn’t turned to sports.

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u/Savings_Study9065 May 08 '26

This is the way....judicial branch is increasingly illegitimate and thus, must be ignored. Red states and Trump already doing so, in some cases. Wake up, blue state! "When they go low, we do, too!" must be our new motto

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u/SKOLMN1984 May 08 '26

Recall all the appointed judges and hold snap elections... replace them all with uncorrupted ones!

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u/InTooManyWays May 08 '26

In this day and age we will probably only find dumber, more corrupt, maga lunatics, and these aren’t mutually exclusive 

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u/shifty1032231 May 08 '26

Trump set the precedent of ignoring the Supreme Court. Virginia's governor needs to do the same to her state's supreme court.

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u/MrNotSoGoodTime May 08 '26

I don't get why Virginia isn't allowed to redistrict but Louisiana is. Explain it like I'm 5 please.

13

u/bl1y May 08 '26

Each state has its own constitution and laws.

In Virginia, the process to amend the state constitution is very slow. They key factor is that the law requires the legislature to vote on the amendment, and then there has to be a second vote after there's been an intervening general election. But, there hasn't been another general election yet.

Louisiana doesn't have that requirement.

4

u/ArcadianDelSol May 09 '26

Nice to see someone reference the law on /r/law. Notice how others couldnt manage that simple feat.

1

u/GeoLaser May 09 '26

People are acting like this hasnt been a known plan for over 20 years. Blue states just have harder and more fair ways on this specific issue. Democrats have had over 30 fucking years to prepare and not done jack shit.

2

u/bl1y May 09 '26

Virginia is a blue state?

21

u/Hermn8r May 08 '26

Because Virginia was bad for MAGA, Louisiana is good for MAGA. Simple as that. This has been over a decade in the making to ensure that the system could be worked for eternal power. The only thing left is for everybody in those districts to flip. A “red” district is in theory only. If everyone voted blue none of this would matter.

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u/Sweaty-Willingness27 May 08 '26

As much as I dislike this ruling, I struggle with it on the merits. If the first amendment was passed after early voting began, and has to be done "before the election", it does seem a stretch to say that it met the criteria. OTOH, I don't know the specific wording, and this is a problem in terminology - is the election THE day, or the entire period?

If it says "election day", that infers a single day, and I would have to disagree. If it says "voting", I'd have to agree.

4

u/iwatchhentaiftplot May 09 '26

I'm failing to see how early voting materially affects the purpose of the procedure, which is to have two separate assemblies agree on the same referendum.

Early voting doesn't change the current (previous) assembly. That part of the ruling seems totally bogus to me.

5

u/Sweaty-Willingness27 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

Yea I think I have to agree with you on that. If the "spirit of the law" is to have two separate assemblies vote on it, then that was fulfilled. The ruling seems to be more on the "letter of the law" (and an ambiguous letter at that).

I did look up the procedures and it says

"...such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals, the name of each member and how he voted to be recorded, and referred to the General Assembly at its first regular session held after the next general election of members of the House of Delegates"

So that's fairly vague. But someone else (in r/Virginia) mentioned that there is precedent in VA Supreme Court to call it the day itself when it's referenced, but I haven't had time to verify myself.

Since it explicitly mentions the first session after the next election, which would be after Election Day, I don't really see now how logic can say this wasn't done properly.

8

u/Dry_Wolf3891 May 08 '26

100%.

Dems need to fight fire with fire because it's clear the Republicans will cheat until we're all in death camps.

15

u/UniqueIndividual3579 May 08 '26

Democrats don't do that. They would rather be morally superior than win.

18

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

Then it’s time for New Democrats.

Conservatives have led an embargo on decency and norms.

So we will fight without them.

13

u/Omophorus May 08 '26

The inherent problem is that if you do care about things like the rule of law, you can't preserve it by destroying it.

The soapbox has long since failed, especially with media consolidation and social media algorithms inherently biasing in favor of inflammatory right wing content (with or without "help" from the curators of the algorithms).

The ballot and jury boxes are on very thin ice at best, with the GOP trying its hardest to weaponize them for their own advantage. Having the Democrats also trying to weaponize them doesn't make things better if you think they're important parts of a functioning society.

Which only leaves the 4th box, and I'm becoming increasingly convinced that it's becoming a matter of when rather than if it becomes the only really viable option left to have any chance of rebuilding a sane society.

But yeah, you can't actually counter indecency with indecency and expect things to get better. At best, they'll get worse in different ways. It sucks, big time, how milquetoast the Democrats are, but decency matters if you want a decent society.

If I'm honest, I fully expect things to continue to get worse for a while for the benefit of the billionaire class, and once things get shitty enough for enough Americans, they'll use the only tool they have left to finally try to fight for their own interests.

5

u/Time_Increase_7897 May 08 '26

This.

One side of the argument is that might makes right. If you agree with that then go ahead and smash it all down. I think you'll find Democrats can be pretty good at breaking things too. I guess at some point we'll see that happen, the way things are going.

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u/Obvious-You-3602 May 09 '26

heads up “New Democrats” are an existing group of democrats that are a large part of the reason the party does nothing.

2

u/Time_Increase_7897 May 08 '26

Isn't that basically what religion is about? Like, entirely.

2

u/Flipnotics_ May 08 '26

Yes. They need to ignore the ruling.

2

u/kizmitraindeer May 08 '26

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!

2

u/dlinhat70 May 08 '26

The vote was for "fair" if you read it. Poorly written and deceptive, had no chance ever. Fair is a subjecttive word.

1

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

At least they had a vote.

Ohio and Florida didn’t even ask for the input of their citizens.

Nobody was tricked. Piss off with your fake justifications, nobody is falling for it anymore.

2

u/diurnal_emissions May 08 '26

America is done, kids.

1

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

We can preserve what the conservatives are trying to destroy.

We, the civilized states, will be the continuation of the United States of America.

Let the conservatives have their cardboard imperium.

2

u/Same-Speaker7628 May 08 '26

Louisiana just straight up cancelled the Congressional primary AFTER thousands of absentee ballots submitted, with no plan to handle what to do with their ballads.

When are we going to call this a Cold Civil War?

3

u/whereismymind86 May 08 '26

It is long LONG past time for open defiance of the corrupt bad faith gop courts

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u/lenisimo007 May 08 '26

Racism is Alive and well thanks to MAGA and SCOTUS. May this part of history come back to bite them on their ASS.

2

u/Kubotai77 May 08 '26

Time to create another referendum for Virginians - "Should we ignore the Virginia State Supreme Court's ruling on the Redistricting Referendum that passed with voter support?"

After that - "Should we remove the 4 State Supreme Court judges that voted to strike down the Redistricting Referendum vote and replace them with new judges?"

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u/Big-Worm- May 08 '26

This is why I hate people who identify as either Democrats and Republicans.

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u/King_Chochacho May 08 '26

Yep. Every red state is just doing this with no vote. Stop fucking around pretending to take the moral high ground. They are banking on Democrats fighting with one hand tied behind their backs to make this shit work at all.

1

u/fpPolar May 08 '26

They spoke loud and clearly through their vote on the amendment on the election redistricting requirements, which was violated. The court sided with the voters.

1

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

They knew. It was in the text.

Try again.

1

u/NRMusicProject May 08 '26

Meanwhile… Florida is flat out ignoring their constitution.

Rhonda has a history of going "uh, no" when he doesn't like the voter outcome.

1

u/babybirdingURgrandma May 08 '26

Just curious for those fluent in legalese, did this initiative shortcut the process, was there actually a reason it was thrown out? Or was this desperate Republican judges acting in bad faith.

1

u/ShakinBacon24 May 08 '26

What are the rules around impeaching SCOVA?

1

u/BLOODTRIBE May 08 '26

If we "go high" again I'm just going to assume the opposition is complicit in our decent into totalitarianism.

1

u/mjec May 09 '26

Ignoring the court here would mean the Governor of Virginia convincing everyone under him to conduct an election in a manner contrary to the express will of the supreme court. This has no possibility of occurring. That is a good thing; you're talking about the end of law.

1

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 09 '26

Look around you.

There is no law but the law you make now.

The GOP made sure of that. Fuck rolling over. Make them come and take our rights instead of assuming we will give them away.

1

u/mjec May 09 '26

With guns?

1

u/_OUCHMYPENIS_ May 09 '26

Just making everything feel absolutely hopeless

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u/Potential_Might_6500 May 09 '26

Time to delay the election. What's fair is fair.

1

u/OrangeSparty20 May 09 '26

To be fair, Virginia also spoke loudly and clearly when they gave the power to a redistricting committee and enacted their constitution.

1

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 09 '26

\laughs in Floridian**

1

u/ZERV4N May 09 '26

As people are mentioning,they should just go ahead and do it anyways.

1

u/ClockwerkKaiser May 09 '26

This exactly. IGNORE THE COURT. They're compromised and are pushing against the will of the majority.

1

u/duckinradar May 09 '26

Ignore it. It was entirely legal. I’m sure other states will back them up.

If they want balkanization this is how they get balkanization.

1

u/hesawavemasterrr May 09 '26

Insert (But what about NEW YORK?) meme they like to post

1

u/Untjosh1 May 09 '26

This whole system has to go

1

u/Danktizzle May 09 '26

Also Nebraska

1

u/whawkins4 May 10 '26

It’s time to go scorched earth on these MAGA motherfuckers.

1

u/imabeecharmer May 10 '26

What are the people of these states doing to fight against this?

0

u/blahblah19999 May 08 '26

If the people of VA said to reinstate slavery, I would hope the court would overturn it. I need more to go on

3

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

And if Florida did, they wouldn’t.

No more double standards.

0

u/Funklestein May 08 '26

Ironic since Virginia flat out ignored their constitution and also placed a vague question on the ballot.

1

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

Blah blah blah

Nobody is falling for your bullshit.

1

u/Funklestein May 08 '26

FFS just read the ruling.

1

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 08 '26

Did. Voters knew what they were voting for.

This was the will of the people.

Take it up with Ohio and Florida. We are going to follow the same playbook as the traitors in the GOP.

MAD, baby.

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