Virginia Democrats pushed back on that reasoning in their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that under federal law, elections occur on a single Election Day even when states permit extended early voting periods beforehand. The emergency filing contended that the state court improperly broadened the legal definition of an election beyond its historically recognized meaning, a question that had been actively debated during oral arguments. Democrats also cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Moore v. Harper, which set limits on how aggressively state courts can interpret election laws affecting federal races, arguing the Virginia court had crossed that line.