WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Virginia to proceed to remove about 1,600 alleged noncitizens from its voter rolls days before the 2024 election. election.
The high court granted a request by state officials to suspend a lower court order that blocked Virginia from continuing a voter purge program it began in August, just 90 days before Election Day. The National Voter Registration Act requires states to complete a program aimed at removing ineligible voters from registration lists at least 90 days before a federal election.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have denied the request from Virginia officials.
“The Department brought this lawsuit to ensure that all eligible Americans can vote in elections, and we disagree with the Supreme Court’s order,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement.
Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin hailed the decision as a “triumph for common sense and election integrity.”
“Clean voter rolls are an important part of the comprehensive approach we are taking to ensure election fairness,” he said. “Virginians also know that Virginians use paper ballots, tabulation machines that are not connected to the internet, strong chain of custody processes, signature verification, monitored and secure drop boxes, and ‘triple checks’ to tabulate results.” I know there is a vote tabulation process. They vote on Election Day knowing that Virginia’s elections are fair, secure and free from politically motivated interference. ”
Virginia officials had asked the Supreme Court to grant their request for emergency relief by Tuesday. They argued that the district court’s order violates “Virginia law and common sense” and “mandates a variety of destructive measures.”
The injunction issued by the lower court “violates Virginia’s sovereignty, confuses voters, overburdens election machinery and administrators, is likely to mislead non-citizens into believing they have the right to vote, and It is a criminal offense that deprives people of their rights.” officials wrote.
Federal and Virginia law prohibit noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Virginia’s request for Supreme Court intervention stems from a Justice Department lawsuit filed against the state earlier this month targeting Youngkin’s executive order. The order formalized a program to remove people from statewide voter registration lists who could not verify their citizenship to the Department of Transportation. State officials said the program has been in place for years, and the order simply changes the frequency of data reporting from monthly to daily.
The Justice Department argued that the program’s implementation violated so-called “quiet period provisions.” This provision is a provision of the National Voter Registration Act that prohibits states from implementing programs to remove ineligible voters from the rolls 90 days before Election Day. election. Federal officials said the purpose of the quiet period is to reduce the risk of voters being mistakenly removed from voter rolls through automatic deletion programs and to ensure there is sufficient time to correct mistakes. Ta.
Yonkin announced the state’s plan on Aug. 7, exactly 90 days before the Nov. 5 general election.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles on Friday granted the Justice Department’s request for a preliminary injunction, ordering the state to restore the voter registrations of about 1,600 people who were purged from state rolls under Youngkin’s program. Giles determined that the state likely violated federal law by systematically canceling voter registration during the so-called quiet period.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Sunday upheld the district court’s order, saying Virginia officials’ argument that the state’s plan does not violate federal voters is “not persuasive.” “There is no such thing,” he said in a short order. Registration Law.
The three-judge panel ordered state officials to reinstate about 1,600 noncitizens to the voter rolls because they could not prove that those removed under Youngkin’s program were in fact noncitizens. It was found that the claim that it was made was false. It reiterated that some people whose voter registrations were canceled are still eligible to vote.
Virginia officials argued in a petition to the Supreme Court that the quiet period clause does not apply to removal from the state’s voter rolls because noncitizens are not eligible to vote. Still, he said people identified as non-citizens and registered voters are being told that their registration will be canceled and they will have 14 days to confirm their citizenship.
In a filing, state officials said the Justice Department and voting rights groups told the district court that “within one month after the election and within weeks of the start of early voting, the federal government’s streamlined and long-term election process must be implemented.” He claimed that he asked them to invest themselves.
They also point out that Mr. Youngkin’s order did not create a state process, but rather increased the frequency of data sharing between agencies from monthly to daily, and the government’s efforts to purge alleged noncitizens from the rolls. refuted the characterization.
State officials said the district court’s injunction “imposes significant cost, disruption, and hardship on Virginia, creates an influx of work for registrars in the critical week before the election, and forces noncitizens to do their own work.” “There is a high possibility that the person will be led to believe that he or she is eligible for registration.” Vote. “
But the Justice Department said Virginia’s program falls squarely under the silent period clause, arguing that the district court’s order affects only “discrete groups of identified voters.” Attorney General Elizabeth Preloger told the Supreme Court that the ruling does not preclude Virginia officials from conducting individual investigations or taking other steps to ensure that noncitizens do not vote in general elections. stated in the submission.
”[W]There is no injunctive relief [Virginia’s] “Violating the quiet period provisions will result in eligible citizens suffering an undue burden on their right to vote, including, in some cases, disenfranchisement,” she said.
The Department of Justice has filed a similar lawsuit against Alabama over the state’s procedures for removing approximately 3,200 potential non-citizens from its voter registration list. Prosecutors said the state launched the program on Aug. 13, 84 days before Election Day, and incorrectly determined more than 2,000 voters were ineligible to vote.
A federal judge earlier this month blocked Alabama from continuing its program to remove ineligible voters from registration lists, stressing that the order does not limit the Secretary of State’s authority to remove noncitizens from Alabama’s voter rolls. did. She also ordered the state to reinstate the eligibility of invalidated voters.
