Lux v. Rodrigues

Background

Herb Lux is an independent candidate seeking a U.S. House seat in Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District, but he lives in the First District. Virginia law requires independent congressional candidates to gather 1,000 signatures from voters in the district and to have each signature witnessed by a resident of that district. Lux collected 1,224 signatures, and he personally witnessed 1,063 of them even though he is not a Seventh District resident. The Virginia State Board of Elections refused to count those signatures, and lower federal courts denied Lux’s requests for relief. Lux then asked the Circuit Justice for the Fourth Circuit for an emergency injunction to force the Board to count the signatures.

Reasoning

The Circuit Justice explained that an emergency injunction from a Justice requires showing that the legal right to relief is "indisputably clear," a higher standard than for other temporary orders. The opinion notes that the District Court relied on earlier Fourth Circuit precedent and that more recent Supreme Court decisions have questioned restrictions on petition circulation, but those later cases did not directly decide residency witness rules. The Court also observed that federal appeals courts are reaching different results on residency requirements. Because the law on whether an out-of-district person may witness signatures is not settled beyond all doubt, Lux did not meet the very high standard for emergency relief.

Real world impact

The decision leaves Virginia’s witness-residency requirement in effect for now and keeps the Board’s refusal to count the challenged signatures in place while appeals continue. This ruling is a temporary, emergency denial and does not decide the final constitutionality of the residency rule; that question may be decided later on the merits.