RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia civil rights group wants to join a lawsuit seeking to force new state House of Delegates elections this year.

But on Monday, a judge said the court must first decide whether the Democratic activist who brought the suit has legal standing to sue.

Paul Goldman is a former state Democratic party chair.

He argues in a federal lawsuit that House members elected in 2021 must run again in 2022 under newly redrawn maps that properly align legislative districts with population shifts.

Because the 2020 census results were delayed, the state held elections under the old legislative boundaries.

The NAACP of Loudoun County wrote a letter to the court asking to join the lawsuit as an affected party.