A federal judge in Alexandria today ordered Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin to restore the voting rights of more than 1,600 Virginians taken off the rolls just weeks before the Nov. 5 general election.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said that Youngkin’s order on Aug. 7 systematically discriminated against Virginia residents within the 90-day “quiet period” before election day as outlined in the National Voter Registration Act.
Youngkin issued the order on Aug. 7, exactly 90 days before the Nov. 5 presidential election. Per the order, citizenship data collected from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles was sent daily to a database with the Virginia State Board of Elections. If the DMV record stated that the resident is not a U.S. citizen, that person’s name would be removed from voting rolls.
From Aug. 7 to Oct. 21, more than 1,600 voters lost their voting rights, including 90 people in Loudoun County and 28 people in Fairfax County, according to Giles. After being identified and removed from the rolls, the residents were notified via mail of their status, and then asked to provide affirmation of their citizenship within 14 days. If the residents failed to respond to the notice they would be removed automatically.
The news comes days after a federal judge struck down another voter purge effort in Alabama.
The case against Youngkin’s administration was brought by the U.S. Justice Department, the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the League of Women Voters Virginia and African Communities Together.
“States can’t do this,” said Brett Ferguson, who represented the plaintiffs, after the decision was rendered. “Virginia has to stop this program of purging citizens from the rolls. It’s a big victory for Virginians and Democracy.”
While only being presented with the data in the last few days, Ferguson said he believes that all 1,600+ residents taken from the voter rolls are all U.S. citizens eligible to vote.
Giles, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, said that Youngkin’s process was flawed and did not take into account naturalized citizens whose status may have changed since the last time they visited the DMV. Giles said that Youngkin’s executive order was issued exactly 90 days before the election.
“It can not be ignored that there is a clear violation of the quiet 90-day period,” she said.
After issuing his executive order, Youngkin said that removing illegal residents from the voting rolls isn’t a “Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an American and Virginian issue.”
“Every legal vote deserves to be counted without being watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines,” Youngkin said. “In Virginia, we don’t play games and our model for election security is working.”
Giles’ temporary injunction on Youngkin’s executive order expires on Nov. 6, the day after election day. She ordered that the 1,600+ Virginians have their voting rights immediately restored, that new guidance be issued to registrars throughout the state within five days, and for Youngkin’s administration to issue a press release on the changes. Impacted residents must also receive a new letter in the mail informing them of the restoration of their rights.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a statement today that a Democrat-led U.S. Justice Department engaged in “lawfare” by weaponizing the legal system against “enemies of so-called progress.”
“It should never be illegal to remove an illegal voter,” Miyares said. “Yet, today a Court – urged by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice – ordered Virginia to put the names of non-citizens back on the voter rolls, mere days before a presidential election. The Department of Justice pulled this shameful, politically motivated stunt 25 days before Election Day, challenging a Virginia process signed into law 18 years ago by a Democrat governor and approved by the Department of Justice in 2006.”
Giles said that Virginia can still remove non-citizens from voting rolls, but on an individualized and not systemic basis.
“The Commonwealth and the Board of Elections has the authority to investigate and remove non-citizens from the (voter) registration rolls, but if it’s in the 90-day quiet period, it must be done with an individualized process,” she said. “It is undoubtedly in the public intent for eligible voters to be returned to the voter rolls. It is also in the public intent to follow the rule of law.”
