Virginia Democratic leaders on Monday asked the Supreme Court to pause last week’s commonwealth high court decision that invalidated a voter-passed ballot measure for a new congressional map.

The emergency application urged the justices to halt the commonwealth court’s 4-3 decision while the state Democratic leaders pursue an appeal at the Supreme Court.

The new map targets Republican-held House seats and would allow Democrats the chance to win 10 of Virginia’s 11 House seats. Unless the state court decision is set aside, the current map where Republicans hold five seats would remain in effect for this fall’s midterms.

“The window for orderly administration of Virginia’s congressional elections is closing rapidly,” the application states. “This Court should act now to preserve the status quo while it considers the grave federal questions the decision below raises.”

The Supreme Court requested a response by Thursday from groups that challenged the ballot process.

The Virginia Supreme Court decision Friday found that the legislature violated the state’s constitution when it set the ballot measure process in motion. The constitution has a requirement for an “intervening election” between the passage of the first and second portions of the ballot measure.

The justices of Virginia’s Supreme Court found the legislature violated that requirement by approving the ballot initiative process on Oct. 31, when early voting had already begun. The general election was held Nov. 4.

The application from the Democratic leaders Monday said the Virginia Supreme Court was “deeply mistaken” about the definition of an election under federal law, “which expressly fixes a single day for the ‘election’ of Representatives and Delegates to Congress.”

“It simply ignored the federal statutes that settle the question,” the application said of the opinion.

The application also argued that the majority of the Virginia Supreme Court incorrectly rejected “the plain text of the Virginia Constitution’s definition of the term ‘election’ to adopt its own contrary meaning.”

“By so dramatically departing from the text and structure of the Virginia Constitution, the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision thus impermissibly transgressed the ordinary bounds of judicial review,” the application said.

And the state emphasized the timing of the decision. “The decision below overthrows that democratic outcome just days before the Commonwealth must begin its preparations to administer the 2026 midterm election,” the application states.

The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 4, which means ballot order must be finalized by May 28 so officials can meet election law deadlines.

The application comes amid a flurry of mid-decade partisan redistricting efforts touched off by President Donald Trump last year.

Virginia was one of two Democrat-controlled states to opt for partisan redistricting since Texas started the effort last year. California passed a new congressional map by ballot measure last year targeting five Republican-held House seats.

So far, several Republican-held states have drawn new congressional maps or are in the process of redrawing maps, targeting a dozen or more Democrat-held seats.

Monday’s case is Don Scott, in his official capacity as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates et al., v. Ryan T. McDougle, Virginia State Senator and Legislative Commissioner for the Virginia Redistricting Commission.