MAGAs trying to get Virginia localities to block early voting in April 21 referendum

Patrick County and Spotsylvania County have voted to bar registrars from allowing early voting in the April 21 congressional redistricting referendum, with Lynchburg set to vote on Monday on a similar resolution.

They’re following a script laid out by a former one-term state delegate from Virginia Beach who, fun fact, was sanctioned by a federal court for impersonating a judge, but now pretends to be concerned for the rule of law.

I’m imagining localities out our way following this push from Tim Anderson, who was landslided in his run for a second term in the House of Delegates in November, losing by 15 points to Democrat Michael Feggans.

This Anderson fellow posted to his socials a template for local boards of supervisors and city councils to use to block their registrars from administering the April 21 referendum for voters in their districts until the Virginia Supreme Court rules one way or the other on the constitutionality of the referendum.

Which would seem to run counter to the strategy of those who are challenging the issue in court.

It’s clear that the Supreme Court is going to rule in favor of Democrats; it’s just as clear that the Republican entities behind the suits are aware of this, and only filed the suits to sow confusion with voters.

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ICYMI

• Virginia Republicans playing the PR game with redistricting lawsuits

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Another issue that would seem to be at play here: Patrick County went to the Republican candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, by 55 points in November, in an election in which the Democrat, Abigail Spanberger, won statewide by a 15-point blowout.

Shouldn’t the MAGAs there want their voters to have every opportunity to weigh in on the April 21 ballot question?

Now, to where this may go next: let’s just say the MAGAs who hold all seven seats on the Board of Supervisors in, I dunno, Augusta County, were to follow suit.

Earle-Sears won Augusta County by 44 points.

Or up in Rockingham County, another MAGA stronghold: Earle-Sears won there by 35 points.

You know where they’re not going to be preventing early voting?

Fairfax County, which Spanberger won by 48 points, and the raw number of votes there is spectacular, from a Democrat perspective – Spanberger won by 223,000 votes.

One other issue to bring up as we wrap: Spotsylvania County and Lynchburg were both 50/50 in November.

Those voting to block folks from being able to vote in this April 21 referendum would seem to be risking raising the ire of the people they’re disenfranchising the next time they come up for re-election.

But, hey, you do you, would be the message there.