A federal judge has ruled in favor of the Biden-Harris DOJ in its lawsuit against Virginia, requiring the state to reinstate non-citizens and other ineligible voters who were recently removed from the voter rolls. This decision mandates Virginia to halt its removal of non-citizen voters and restore previously removed names.
“Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls,” Youngkin said. “Almost all these individuals had previously presented immigration documents confirming their noncitizen status, a fact recently verified by federal authorities.”
Governor Glenn Youngkin has stated that only individuals who have “self-identified” as non-citizens are removed from Virginia’s voter rolls. He described the lawsuit as a “very unreal moment,” noting that the process of removing non-citizens has been in place since 2006 under Virginia’s Constitution and state law. That 2006 legislation was signed by then-Governor Tim Kaine, who later became Hillary Clinton’s running mate in her 2016 campaign.
Election interference??
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) October 25, 2024
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The DOJ argued that Virginia’s actions violated the National Voter Registration Act, which prohibits removing names from voter rolls within 90 days of an election. A Protect Democracy spokesperson praised the judge’s decision to require that non-citizens be reinstated, stating, “The judge ordered that purged voters be added back to the rolls and that the state must send corrective mailings to those voters.”
If the reinstated individuals are non-citizens, whom Virginia had given three prior opportunities to confirm their status, this ruling would effectively allow non-citizens to vote in a U.S. presidential election—contrary to both state and federal law.
According to Virginia law, voter removal involves the DMV, which registers individuals for voting when they receive a driver’s license. The DMV then sends a list of those who indicated they were non-citizens to the state, ensuring they are not on the voter rolls. Governor Youngkin has raised concerns about the DOJ’s timing and motivations in challenging the state’s efforts to prevent self-identified non-citizens from voting.
Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls. https://t.co/QwloK1Sxr4
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 25, 2024
“This is a Virginia law passed in 2006, signed by then-Governor Tim Kaine, that mandates certain procedures to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls, with safeguards in place to affirm citizenship before removal–and the ultimate failsafe of same-day registration for U.S. citizens to cast a provisional ballot. This law has been applied in every Presidential election by Republicans and Democrats since enacted 18 years ago,” Youngkin said in a statement after the ruling.
“Virginia will immediately petition the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court, for an emergency stay of the injunction.”
