The Department of Justice is suing the State of Virginia for removing non-citizens from its voter rolls.
The lawsuit was announced on Friday, and comes in response to a recent executive order by the Governor Glenn Youngkin that aimed to ensure the integrity of this year’s presidential election. Among the measures Youngkin announced were the use of 100% paper ballots with a strict chain of custody, 24/7 monitoring of drop boxes and verification of voter identity.
According to the DoJ, by purging the voter rolls the State of Virginia has violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and specifically Sectiion 8(c)(2), which provides for a “Quiet Period” of 90 days, in which voters cannot be removed from the rolls.
“As the National Voter Registration Act mandates, officials across the country should take heed of the law’s crystal clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
“By cancelling voter registrations within 90 days of Election Day, Virginia places qualified voters in jeopardy of being removed from the rolls and creates the risk of confusion for the electorate. Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy and the Justice Department will continue to ensure that the rights of qualified voters are protected.”
Governor Youngkin responded to the lawsuit.
“With less than 30 days until the election, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice is filing an unprecedented lawsuit against me and the Commonwealth of Virginia, for appropriately enforcing a 2006 law signed by Democrat Tim Kaine that requires Virginia to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls—a process that starts with someone declaring themselves a non-citizen and then registering to vote,” Youngkin said in a statement.
“Virginians—and Americans—will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy. With the support of our Attorney General, we will defend these commonsense steps, that we are legally required to take, with every resource available to us. Virginia’s election will be secure and fair, and I will not stand idly by as this politically motivated action tries to interfere in our elections, period.”
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