Democrats hoping to win control of Virginia’s House of Delegates filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the state Board of Elections from certifying a tight race that has been clouded by ballot mix-ups. The Virginia House Democratic Caucus filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria – the third complaint Democrats or their allies have filed over that key legislative race since the Nov. 7 election. All the lawsuits claim that voters had been disenfranchised for various reasons; the first two were dismissed. Late Tuesday, the elections board decided to postpone a Wednesday meeting to certify results in the 28th District and in the adjacent 88th District, said Edgardo Cortés, the state commissioner of elections.
The board met for certification Monday but held off amid concerns that dozens of Fredericksburg voters might have received the wrong ballot. State elections officials said local records erroneously assigned 83 voters in the 28th District to the 88th District, although it was not clear how many of those voters cast ballots on election day.
The elections board now plans after Thanksgiving on Nov. 27, despite warnings from House Republicans that they would sue the board if it did not certify the results by Wednesday.