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Supreme Court allows Virginia to remove noncitizens from voter rolls
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Supreme Court allows Virginia to remove noncitizens from voter rolls

He Supreme Court Wednesday allowed Virginia to carry out a purge of approximately 1,600 people from their voter rolls before Tuesday’s election as part of a program to prevent ineligible noncitizens vote.

Virginia had asked the justices to intervene after a federal district judge ruled that the state’s mass cancellation of voter registrations, under an Aug. 7 executive order by the governor. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), violated the so-called 90-day “quiet period” under federal law.

The high court granted the state’s request Wednesday without explanation because of disagreements from the three Democratic-appointed justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The decision means Virginia will not have to reinstate approximately 1,600 people who had been purged.

Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) delivers his State of the Commonwealth address to a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly on January 10, 2024, at the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

“This is a victory for common sense and electoral justice,” Youngkin wrote in a statement following the decision.

Youngkin praised the work of state Attorney General Jason Miyares for his handling of the case and the “critical fight to protect the fundamental rights of American citizens.”

The state argued that cleaning voter rolls daily is vital to ensuring fairness in the state’s elections. The lawsuit was filed by private plaintiffs backed by the Biden administration’s Justice Department, which aimed to undo the roughly 1,600 deportations, citing evidence that eligible citizens were caught up in the purge.

The justices left open the opportunity to file a follow-up petition to the high court if parties to the case, such as the Justice Department or private voters, seek a more complete review on the merits of the case.

But with just six days until the general election, the ruling allows Virginia to exercise its discretion to update voter rolls at least through Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles, appointed by President Joe Biden, found that the governor’s executive order violated the 90-day quiet period provision prohibiting systematic changes to voter rolls under the National Voter Registration Act. 1993 voters, citing the need to avoid any last minute changes to voter lists just days before the election.

PURGE VOTER CLASSIFICATIONS: THE ELECTION TASK THAT STIMULATE ELIGIBILITY DISPUTES

The judge on Friday ordered the state to cease its voter purge operation and send notices to all those whose registration has been canceled under the program, saying the notices must make clear that they are not yet eligible to vote if they are not citizens. Americans.

The Justice Department argued that the program was systematic and therefore could not be permitted under the NVRA, but Virginia lawyers argued that it was not and said there were ways to make amends for wrongly removed voters if they challenged their removals. .