Virginia takes voter purge case to the U.S. Supreme Court

Attorney General Jason Miyares has filed an emergency petition to the United States Supreme Court to appeal a ruling that the Commonwealth of Virginia must restore over 1,500 people to voter registration lists. 

“Less than two weeks before the 2024 Presidential Election, and more than a month into early voting, the district court below ordered Applicants, Virginia and its election officials, to place over 1,600 self-identified noncitizens back onto Virginia’s voter rolls, in violation of Virginia law and common sense,” reads the emergency request filed on Sunday.

Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order #35 on August 7, 2024. This directed the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections to update the voter list daily and remove persons who are dead, have moved, or are ineligible to vote. 

A coalition of groups including the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia on October 7. They argued that Youngkin’s directive was a violation of the National Voter Rights Act because there is to be a quiet period 90 days before an election where sweeping edits of the lists are not to be made. 

At issue is whether the Commonwealth’s action is based on individual requests or a systematic program. The latter falls afoul of federal law. 

On Friday, Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered the Department of Elections to restore anyone who had been removed from the voter rolls since August 7 unless they had made a request, have died, or are ineligible to vote due to criminal activity or mental incapacity. 

The court order also requires the Department of Elections to contact anyone who was removed to inform them they are still eligible to vote. This note must also state that non-citizens are not eligible to vote. 

“A process is systematic if it uses a ‘mass computerized data-matching process’ to identify and confirm names for removal without ‘individualized information or investigation’,” reads part of the six page ruling. 

Attorneys for the Commonwealth had argued that the quiet period did not apply to the program to remove non-citizens from registration lists. The three judge appeals court disagreed. 

“Under the preliminary injunction, appellants remain able to prevent noncitizens from voting by canceling registrations on an individualized basis or prosecuting any noncitizen who votes—options the district court specifically flagged at the hearing and in its written order,” the ruling continues. (read the ruling)

The Commonwealth of Virginia has until Wednesday to comply with the ruling and a response is due from the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow afternoon. According to SCOTUS Blog, these cases are usually dealt with an unsigned orders with little explanation.

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