On January 10, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney, Jr., ordered the Virginia State Board of Elections to inform all local electoral boards that they should not print or distribute any Republican presidential primary absentee ballots until the hearing on January 13 over the constitutionality of the Virginia ballot access laws. Judge Gibney also said, “The Court finds that there is a strong likelihood that the Court will find the residency requirement for petition circulators to be unconstitutional.”

The State Board of Elections filed an immediate appeal with the Fourth Circuit. In that Fourth Circuit, the case is Perry v Judd, 12-1042. Judge Gibney had previously ordered the State Board of Elections not to print or mail any absentee ballots, but until the January 10 order, the county and independent city electoral boards had not been instructed to delay any preparations for the March 6 primary.