A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to halt efforts to remove potential non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls, a decision that would deny approximately 1,600 residents the right to vote ahead of Election Day. is expected to recover.
U.S. Judge Patricia Giles on Friday issued a preliminary injunction reinstating all voters removed from the state’s voter rolls in the past 90 days, saying the removals were “systematic” in nature and not individualized. Therefore, it was found to be a violation. Federal law.
In issuing the injunction, Giles said he had reason to believe voters were being mistakenly removed from the rolls. “This process resulted in voters having their voting registrations flagged,” she said.
While Giles agreed that it is “certainly in the public interest to exclude ineligible voters,” he noted that it is also in the public interest “for states to comply with federal law, especially voting rights.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, July 15, 2024 (Reuters/Gina Moon)
The news comes after the Justice Department said the deletions occurred too close to the Nov. 5 election, in violation of the National Voter Registration Act, a federal law that requires states to cease all systematic maintenance of voter rolls. The announcement comes just weeks after he sued the state of Virginia. 90-day “quiet period” before elections.
Justice Department officials also expressed concern that eligible votes may have been mistakenly removed from the rolls without proper notice or sufficient time to correct the mistakes.
“States may remove names from official voter lists in a variety of ways and for various reasons, but not so close to a federal election,” Justice Department officials wrote in a lawsuit filed Oct. 11. “We may not carry out this kind of systematic takedown program.”
The injunction supports this idea, and is an immediate response from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who claims voters were legally excluded and is himself challenging the court ruling less than two weeks before the federal election. It caused a fierce backlash.
“This is a stunning ruling by a federal judge ordering the state of Virginia to reinstate individuals who claimed to be non-citizens on the voter rolls,” Youngkin said on a Fox News Channel telephone broadcast shortly after the judge’s decision was announced. ” he said.
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The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Virginia (Photo by Bonnie Cash/Getty Images) ((Bonnie Cash/Getty Images))
At issue is an executive order Youngkin signed in August that authorized the state to update its voter rolls “on a daily basis.”
The order allowed the state to compare the Department of Transportation’s list of noncitizens with the list of registered voters. Non-citizens were then told that unless they could prove their citizenship within 14 days, their voter registration would be canceled.
Yonkin maintains the voters were legally excluded, based on precedent in a 2006 state law enacted by then-Gov. Tim Kaine, Democrat.
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Voters will make their choices at the voting booth on October 17, 2024. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Yonkin previously said the state’s system is unsystematic and uses an “individual process” to determine and notify noncitizens who may be on voter registration lists and removed without further action. he claimed.
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On Friday, he expressed new concerns about the timing of the decision, which was made just 11 days before Election Day, and said the state would “immediately” apply to block the order.
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Brianne Depiche is a political reporter for FOX News Digital, covering the 2024 election and other national news.
