Federal Judge blocks voter purge in Virginia
United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia Patricia Giles ruled on Friday that Virginia could not purge its voter rolls of over 1,500 people whom the state's Governor, Glenn Youngkin, claimed to have "self-identified themselves as noncitizens."
"This is a Virginia law passed in 2006, signed by then-Governor Tim Kaine, that mandates certain procedures to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls, with safeguards in place to affirm citizenship before removal–and the ultimate failsafe of same-day registration for U.S. citizens to cast a provisional ballot," Youngkin said, adding that he would petition the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court, if necessary.
Two weeks ago, the US Department of Justice filed a complaint against the state of Virginia, claiming that the state canceled its voter registrations too close to the election, by making the announcement during the "quiet period" of 90 days before the 2024 presidential election.
Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls. https://t.co/QwloK1Sxr4
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 25, 2024
