This story was reported and written by VPM News.
Registrars and political groups are pressing ahead with preparations for voting on a constitutional amendment that would allow Virginia Democrats to draw new congressional maps for this year's midterms.
The early voting period is still set to begin on Friday, after a Lynchburg judge delayed a ruling until after the April 21 referendum.
The City of Lynchburg, represented by former Republican Del. Tim Anderson, asked the court if the city should proceed with preparations for early voting after a Tazewell County judge granted a temporary injunction blocking the State Board of Elections from preparing for the referendum.
A separate ruling by Tazewell Circuit Judge Jack Hurley — finding that Democrats' effort to get the amendment passed in time for voters to use new maps in this fall's federal midterms violated multiple state laws — is under consideration by the Supreme Court of Virginia, which said the case would not prevent voting from going forward.
"Today, the Lynchburg Circuit Court dismissed our action — not on the merits, and not because our constitutional arguments were wrong — but because the Court ruled it would not exercise jurisdiction until after the election is completed," Anderson posted on X.
Spokespeople for Elias Law, the Democratic-aligned law firm representing officials in challenges to the redistricting effort, told VPM News a written order may come later.
So far, a number of challenges, mostly Republican-led, have not resulted in a delay of the vote. In addition to the two cases in Tazewell and the case in Lynchburg, two sitting Republican congressmen sued in a Richmond court over the referendum's ballot language, and a Washington County resident filed a pro se lawsuit aiming to stop the vote.
Multiple general registrars told VPM News they are moving forward with plans for voters to be able to cast their ballots beginning Friday.
"We are certainly moving forward with our preparations," Richmond Registrar David Levine told VPM News. "We're gonna keep plugging away, and if there is a ruling that comes down the pipe, we can pivot. We had a board meeting last week to finalize a number of plans. We're still moving forward with election worker training, and I feel pretty good about where we're at."
Hanover County Registrar Teri Smithson said her office was also pushing forward with preparations.
"We [are] required by law to follow all legislation passed by the General Assembly. It is our duty and responsibility to plan, prepare, and administer this special election until otherwise instructed by a court ruling," she said in an email.
Smithson said the last guidance from the state Department of Elections (ELECT), which she relayed in her email to VPM News, came on Feb. 24.
"ELECT has completed its review of the recent court order by the Tazewell Circuit Court regarding the April 21, 2026, special election. The recent order applies only to the named defendants, including local election officials in Tazewell County. The request to pause sent on February 20 is withdrawn. For any additional questions, please contact your local attorney," the department told Smithson.
Election officials are not the only ones preparing. Referendum committees have been releasing ads for and against the passage of the constitutional amendment.
Virginians for Fair Elections has received nearly $20 million in contributions from Democrat-aligned groups. In the Lynchburg hearing, an attorney for Elias Law said the group had 1,000 volunteers.
The similarly named Virginians for Fair Maps, a group that includes former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, is opposing the redistricting amendment. A search on ELECT's campaign finance website did not return any results.
The contact info for the group's registration forwarded to FP1 Strategies, a political consulting firm based in Arlington. VPM News is awaiting a response from the group after a Monday afternoon inquiry.
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