Virginia Democrats and Their Dysfunctional Election
Four hours is one thing, but 45 days? See a (juris) doctor.
Color me just a tiny bit surprised that the Great Seal of the Supreme Court of Virginia hasn’t been cancelled just yet.
For those who have always wondered, Iustitia is holding the scales of justice in her left hand and petting what is indeed an ostrich to her right — an ancient word for justice in Egyptian hieroglyphics being an ostrich feather. The original can be found at the Vatican in the Hall of Constantine — used by previous popes to receive diplomats and other dignitaries vising the Holy See — where there are Iustitia and Comitas (Justice and Friendship) presiding over four scenes meant to impose upon the dignitaries the unique position of the Vicar of Christ:
The Vision of the Cross where Constantine received his guarantee IN HOC SIGNO VINCES (“In this sign you will conquer” — the Cross),
The subsequent Battle of Milvian Bridge where the Emperor Constantine defeated the pagan armies of Maxentius in 312 AD,
The Baptism of Constantine.
…and finally the Donation of Constantine granting the Holy See temporal power over the Papal States (now widely considered to be a convenient forgery and abandoned by the Lateran Treaty of 1929).
Over these four scenes presided over by Justice and Friendship is the fresco on the ceiling entitled The Triumph of Christianity over Paganism. Clearly, whoever drew up the Great Seal of the Supreme Court of Virginia in 1932 was more than just a classicist at heart.
This morning’s SCOVA hearing did not go well for Virginia Democrats, who were sorely tested on both their method and their madness.
Core to the argument from two of the justices was the definition of election day — which previous to today, Democrats had argued begins when early voting begins, yet as of this morning have decided that Election Day is indeed Election Day and early voting is somehow not the kickoff to election day, um… weeks… months… er, season?
Now of note, only two of the justices did most of the argumentation and those being the perceived conservative members of the court. The other justices listened, but the argument was so tightly wound around when an election truly begins in Virginia.
Elections begin when voting begins.
At present, SCOVA has made it explicitly clear that the outcome of the referendum will have no bearing on their ruling. Was there an intervening election between October 2025 and January 2026? If voting starts 45 days before the first Tuesday in November, then the plain reading of the law is clear. If Election Day is strictly defined as the first Tuesday in November and the 45 days prior isn’t an electoral process, then Scott Surovell is right and we move on to other concerns (unfair language and the sort) that may or may not carry the same gravitas.
There you have it. We now get to watch while SCOVA decides the definition of the word “is” with regard to Election Day.
Nota bene: Since we get to discuss Raphael’s painting of Iustitia in connection with her close friend Comitas, perhaps we can take up whether half of Virginians choosing to disenfranchise their friends and neighbors is either iure or comitatis.
Here’s hoping.
SHAUN KENNEY is the senior editor for The Republican Standard.