SCOTUS allows Virginia to continue purging voter rolls

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday allowed Virginia to retain her seat. clearing voter records that the state said it targeted Preventing non-US citizens from voting.

The Virginian, whose registration was revoked despite having lived in the state all his life, called the purge “a very bad October surprise.”

The high court granted an emergency appeal from Virginia’s Republican administration, led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, after three liberal justices disagreed. The court did not provide any reasoning for its decision, which is typical in emergency appeals.

The justices acted on Virginia’s appeal after a federal judge found the state had illegally purged more than 1,600 voter records in the past two months. The federal appeals court had previously allowed the judge’s order to stand.

This type of voting is rare in American electionsbut the specter of immigrants voting illegally became a major part of the event. political messaging this year from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Trump had previously criticized the decision, calling it a “totally unacceptable travesty” on social media. “Only US citizens should be allowed to vote,” Trump wrote.

Because Virginia offers same-day registration, voters who believe they were improperly removed from the rolls can vote in the election, Youngkin said.

“And Virginia has the highest level of protection; no one is prevented from voting, and so I encourage every single citizen to go out to vote,” Youngkin told reporters.

This option was also voiced by the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the White House.

“Every voter has the right to vote and have their votes counted, and this decision does not change that,” campaign spokesman Charles Lutvak said in a statement. he said. “Our campaign will ensure that every eligible voter can vote. “Voting by noncitizens remains illegal under federal law.”

Rina Shaw, 22, of Chesterfield, Virginia, said she was born in Virginia, has lived in the state her entire life and has never left the United States.

Shaw thinks she may have forgotten to check the citizenship box on the form when she updated her voter registration while getting a learner permit at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

“My first reaction was that this was ridiculous and this should not have been allowed in October of all months. Shaw said this must have been something that happened six months ago, not just on the eve of the election.

He said he planned to vote during Wednesday’s early voting and still found the error troubling. Shaw said voter registration has now been renewed.

The Justice Department and a coalition of private groups sued the state in early October, arguing that Virginia election officials, acting under an executive order issued by Youngkin in August, struck names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.

National Voter Registration Act requires 90-day ‘quiet period’ before election Maintenance of voter rolls to ensure that legitimate voters are not removed from voter rolls due to bureaucratic errors or last-minute errors that cannot be quickly corrected.

Youngkin issued his order on Aug. 7, the 90th day before the Nov. 5 election. Data on voter rolls from the state Department of Motor Vehicles had to be checked daily to identify non-U.S. citizens.

Protect Democracy, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit, stated that media interviews with other voters showed that the Youngkin administration’s purge had removed U.S. citizens from voter rolls.

An example of this is Nadra Wilson, who lives in Lynchburg, Virginia. NPR was dragged in during the liquidation. “I was born in Brooklyn, New York, I’m a citizen,” Wilson said, before showing his American passport as proof of his citizenship.

Project Democracy said in a statement: “This program alienates eligible voters. Virginia did not provide any evidence that noncitizens participated in elections. Because there is none. “And it is actually the eligible VA voters who are caught in the middle of this election subversion plan.”

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles said election officials could still remove names on an individual basis, but not through a systematic purge.

Giles had directed the state to notify affected voters and local registrars that registration had resumed by Wednesday.

Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.

A federal judge ruled this month in a similar case in Alabama. gave instructions to the state Restoring the eligibility of more than 3,200 voters who were considered non-citizens. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that approximately 2,000 of the 3,251 voters deactivated were actually legally registered citizens.

Lavoie reported from Richmond. Associated Press writers Matthew Barakat and Lindsay Whitehurst in Alexandria, Virginia, contributed to this report.

First Publication Date: October 30, 2024 09:02 MDT