RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Three Democratic state attorneys general are suing a U.S. government official, seeking to force him to recognize Virginia’s vote this week to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and certify the measure as part of the Constitution.

The lawsuit filed Thursday against the archivist of the United States comes after the National Archives and Records Administration said this week that the archivist would “take no action to certify the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment.”

It cited a U.S. Department of Justice opinion issued earlier this month that said it was too late for states to ratify the ERA because of a long-passed congressional deadline.