Virginia law says the nominees of qualified parties always appear first on general election ballots. The only qualified parties in Virginia for the past 18 years have been the Democratic and Republican Parties. In 2014 the Virginia Libertarian Party and Rob Sarvis filed a lawsuit against that policy. The U.S. District Court acknowledged that being listed first on the ballot is advantageous, but he said the state may legitimately have election laws that help the Democratic and Republican Parties relative to other parties.

The case has been appealed to the Fourth Circuit. The opening brief was filed on December 22, 2015. The case is Sarvis v Alcorn, 15-1162.