Democrats have filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt a redistricting rule by Virginia's top court. The state court had invalidated a ballot measure that would have given Virginia Democrats an additional four winnable U.S. House seats. Virginia voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment last month that let Democrats redraw political lines in time for the November elections. That move was in response to mid-decade redistricting in Republican states pressured by President Donald Trump. The appeal is a long shot because the Supreme Court tries to avoid second-guessing how state courts interpret their state constitutions.

Lawmakers in several southern states will be meeting this week to consider redistricting plans in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act. Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has called legislators into a special session starting Monday that could enable a new date for congressional primaries. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee has announced a special session starting Tuesday to redraw the state's U.S. House districts. And Louisiana lawmakers also are in session to consider how to redraw districts after the Supreme Court struck down a majority Black district in the state.