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Nothing conjures up images of a political train off the track better than the ongoing struggle by five Republican senators to challenge a voter-approved state law that blocked them from running for reelection after they racked up more than 10 unexcused absences during the last legislative session.

Voters last year seemingly snuffed the now well-used minority party tactic to use walkouts as a way to deny the Senate a quorum, and thus, block legislation they disagreed with.

The constitutional amendment barred any senators with more than 10 unexcused absences from serving another term. Ten Republican senators hit that benchmark in May and stayed in limbo as a way to protest bills on abortion, transgender health care and guns.

Now, some of the senators assert the voter-approved mandate wasn’t clear and they should be able to run for reelection. They sued Oregon Secretary of State La Vonne Griffin-Valade on Aug. 25, seeking a court order to allow them to file for reelection.

They initially filed the case with the Oregon Court of Appeals, but officials handed in a joint request to skip the appeals court and go straight to the Oregon Supreme Court on the matter.

The senators asked to file their first brief with the high court by Sept. 29.

The senators certainly have a right to seek a resolution from the state Supreme Court. They also have the right to voice their opinions regarding why they think the voter mandated law is unclear. The problem with the entire saga is that voters approved the amendment. Not just voters on the western side of the state but in many rural, typically conservative counties of Oregon.

What this drama does is gobble up valuable time and resources for a party that needs to figure out how to get more voters on their side. Not voters in rural counties — most of those are overwhelmingly conservative anyway — but in places where Democrats have long held sway.

Republicans are in a minority in the House and the Senate. What that means is they can’t get their agenda pushed forward because they don’t have enough votes. How you solve that is get more voters electing Republicans. How to do that isn’t through high-profile, but probably useless, efforts in court.

The Republican Party needs to find a way to gather more people to its banner if it is to become viable again. Anything short of that effort is a waste of time.