VA Can Remove Some Voters From Rolls, Supreme Court Rules

VIRGINIA — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Virginia election officials may continue to remove suspected non-citizens from state voter rolls, reversing a lower court's decision claiming the effort violated federal law.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, asked the justices to intervene after two lower courts blocked his efforts to cancel the registrations of ineligible voters within 90 days of the Nov. 5 election, according to a Washington Post report.

"This is a victory for common sense and election fairness," Youngkin said in a statement. "Virginians can cast their ballots on Election Day knowing that Virginia’s elections are fair, secure and free from politically-motivated interference."

The Supreme Court's ruling came nearly three weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Virginia, claiming an executive order issued by Youngkin on Aug. 17 that directed state officials to remove ineligible voters violated federal law.

As a result of the order, challengers claimed officials removed some eligible voters from the state's voter rolls because they overlooked a box on their driver's license applications indicating they were not U.S. citizens, the Post reported last week. It also removed voters who became citizens years after their first interaction with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

State officials told the Post about 1,600 voter registrations had been canceled since Youngkin’s executive order went into effect.

In the lawsuit, the Department of Justice claimed Youngkin's order also violated the National Voter Registration Act's "Quiet Period Provision," which requires states to complete programs to remove ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ruled against Youngkin, agreeing the order violated federal law. Her decision also directed state officials to send letters to each person purged from the rolls and to reinstate them to voter rolls.

“What I find is a clear violation of the 90-day quiet provision,” Giles said in court. “It is not happenstance that this executive order was announced on the 90th day.”

In a filing, Youngkin told the Supreme Court that the forced restoration of voters would create confusion, overload election machinery and “likely lead noncitizens to think they are permitted to vote, a criminal offense that will cancel the franchise of eligible voters," according to the Post.

Wednesday's Supreme Court decision was issue without comment from a majority of conservative justices, CNN reported. Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

In a statement sent to Patch, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee denounced the court's ruling, claiming it would disenfranchise eligible voters and create more confusion leading up to Tuesday's election.

“The decision to purge voters is nothing less than an assault on democracy," FCDC Chair Aaron Yohai said. "Every eligible U.S. citizen has the right to vote, and we urge Virginians to exercise that right by voting in person and requesting same-day registration if needed."