Democratic Supervisors Slam Removal Of 98 Loudoun County Voters

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — After a Supreme Court ruling upheld Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's removal of about 1,600 Virginia voters, Loudoun County's Democratic supervisors expressed opposition to the action affecting some of the county's voters.

Chair Phyllis Randall and six other Democratic Board of Supervisors members sent the letter to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin Friday. According to the supervisors, 98 of the voters removed by the governor's action were Loudoun County voters, and at least some of them were U.S. citizens. The Loudoun County Office of Elections reinstated three voters, two of which voted early and one requested a mail-in ballot.

The officials called the removal of voters close to the election "election interference, voter intimidation, and voter suppression."

"The Office of Elections has no reason to believe any of the purged voters had ill intent when they registered to vote and subsequently, sometimes erroneously, checked a box on a Department of Motor Vehicles' form indicating that they are not U.S. Citizens," the supervisors wrote. "It is an error. Not a crime."

According to the supervisors, voters may still vote by same-day registration through Election Day. Virginia's same-day registration allows residents to cast a provisional ballot, and the local electoral board determines if the resident is eligible to vote. Voters may also check their registration status or contact the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law voter protection hotline at 866-687-8683.

The letter was not signed by Republican members Caleb Kershner and Matt Letourneau.

The Supreme Court ruling came weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Virginia. Federal authorities claimed executive order issued by Youngkin on Aug. 17 directing state officials to remove ineligible voters 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.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles and an appeals court ruled against Youngkin, agreeing the order violated federal law. However, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Youngkin's order. The governor said that the voters had self-identified as non-citizens, and many previously provided documents to confirm their non-citizen status. He pointed to a 2006 law signed by then-Gov. Tim Kaine that mandates removal of non-citizens from voter rolls and allows voters to affirm citizenship before removal.