A federal judge on Thursday rejected an effort by Donald Trump supporters to block the use of a party loyalty pledge in Virginia’s Republican presidential primary on March 1.
In her decision, U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to show that voters would suffer “irreparable harm” by signing a party affiliation statement before receiving a ballot on Super Tuesday, as Trump’s supporters argued.
The testimony “does not support the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction” against including the requirement on instructions for ballots issued on election day or absentee ballots mailed to registered voters outside the state, Lauck ruled.
The lawsuit, filed this month in the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of three pastors who support Trump, stems from the state Republican Party’s decision in September to require voters to sign a “statement of intent” before taking part in the primary.
The pledge, already on ballot instructions printed across the state, reads: “My signature below indicates I am a Republican.”
