Following the release of the Supreme Court of Virginia’s (SCoVa) watershed redistricting decision in Scott v. McDougle, the Center for Election Confidence (CEC) looked under the hood to analyze the important election integrity wins beyond the big headlines.

 

Importantly, SCoVa expressed serious concern with the Commonwealth’s overly long 45-day voting period. During the recent redistricting push in Virginia, 1.3 million voters cast their ballots during the early voting period before the General Assembly voted to refer the question to the ballot, essentially preventing those voters from weighing in on the issue. As such, the Court noted that upholding the redistricting referendum would require “a truly illiberal construction of Virginia law.” 

Another major win was SCoVa definitively nailing down that, in Virginia, “Election Day” unequivocally means Election Day. The court looked directly at the “plain and ordinary” definition of “general election” under Article XII, Section 1, holding that the Virginia constitution requires ballots be received by election officials by the closing of the polls in order to count. The result? Late-arriving mail ballots are on borrowed time in the Commonwealth.

In the same vein, SCoVa offered strong words on requiring the same rules to apply to all forms of in-person voting, whether early or on Election Day. Applying equivalent rules to voting at the polls, regardless of timing on the election calendar, creates consistent, expected procedures from start to finish—a key instrument for increased voter confidence.