U.S. judge mandates Virginia to reinstate voters removed from rolls, restoring access for thousands
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Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has voiced criticism of the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit challenging Virginia's handling of voter rolls and also responded to former Trump staff members speaking out against the former president. On Friday, a federal judge ordered Virginia to stop its removal of potential non-citizens from state voter rolls, a move expected to reinstate voting rights for around 1,600 residents before Election Day.
U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction mandating the reinstatement of all voters removed from the rolls within the past 90 days. She ruled that the removals were "systematic" rather than individualized, thus violating federal law.
The ruling comes shortly after the DOJ sued Virginia, arguing that these removals were made too close to the November 5 elections, in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. This federal law requires a 90-day "quiet period" before an election, during which systematic voter roll maintenance must cease. DOJ officials expressed concerns that eligible voters may have been mistakenly removed without proper notice or time to rectify the error. "States may remove names from official lists of voters in various ways and for various reasons, but they may not carry on this kind of systematic removal program so close to a federal election," the DOJ stated in its October 11 lawsuit.
The injunction aligns with the DOJ's argument, a decision likely to prompt pushback from Gov. Youngkin, who insists the removals were lawful and has objected to the timing of the court's ruling just before a federal election.
At the heart of the dispute is an executive order Youngkin signed in August, authorizing "daily" updates to the state’s voter rolls. The order allowed the state to cross-check its registered voter list with the Department of Motor Vehicles' non-citizens list, notifying those identified as non-citizens that their registration would be canceled unless they provided proof of citizenship within 14 days. Youngkin argues this process is based on a 2006 state law enacted by then-Governor Tim Kaine, a Democrat.
In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Youngkin defended the state's approach, asserting it was not a "systematic purge." Instead, he described it as an "individualized process" that notifies potential non-citizens on the voter list, giving them a chance to respond before removal. "To be clear, this is not a purge," he emphasized.
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