McAuliffe’s order has been praised by many who see it as a bold step to right a long-standing injustice, but the missteps in the order’s planning and implementation have provided ample fodder for critics.

The McAuliffe administration has refused to release the list to the Richmond Times-Dispatch and other news media, prosecutors and the General Assembly. Media reports have detailed a number of errors with the list, such as the inclusion of several currently imprisoned criminals and at least two fugitive sex offenders with Richmond ties.

Charles J. Cooper, a Washington lawyer hired by the Republican leaders, argued that standing to challenge the governor’s action is “inherent in the right to vote, the right to cast a full vote, one that is undiluted by government action.”

Howell, Norment and other Republican voters in the suit want the Supreme Court to reverse the governor’s order and subsequent blanket orders to restore voting rights to felons before the presidential election in November.

“We believe the legislature has standing to complain about an illegally configured electorate ... in which the ballot box, if you will, has been stuffed,” Cooper said.