By Julianna Frieman
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Virginia on Friday over an executive order removing illegal migrants off the state’s voter rolls allegedly too close to Election Day.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Executive Order 35, which codifies election security measures including voter list maintenance, on Aug. 7. The lawsuit alleged the Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals violated the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which says states may not clean up voters rolls 90 days before an election.
BREAKING: Kamala’s DOJ is suing the state of Virginia because they removed non-citizens from the voter rolls.
Yes, this is real.
Kamala’s DOJ is suing Virginia because Glenn Youngkin removed people from the rolls who are legally barred from voting in American elections. pic.twitter.com/2w6ugSXmI5
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 11, 2024
Virginia violated the NVRA’s Quiet Period Provision, the DOJ claims. This clause “applies to certain systematic programs carried out by states that are aimed at striking names from voter registration lists based on a perceived failure to meet initial eligibility requirements — including citizenship — at the time of registration,” the agency stated.
The complaint states Virginia’s executive order resulted in “systemic removal,” which it claims should not be allowed to avoid confusing voters or committing irreversible errors that may affect eligible voters. (RELATED: Swing State Purges 747,000 Names From Voter Rolls)
The DOJ, however, acknowledged, “States may remove names from official lists of voters in various ways and for various reasons” as long as it is not systemic or “so close to a federal election.”
The Biden/Harris DOJ just filed a lawsuit against Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin for enforcing state law requiring the removal of illegal immigrants from the voter rolls
This weaponization of the Justice system that defends criminals and criminalizes enforcing the law must end
— America (@america) October 12, 2024
Youngkin’s order was issued exactly 90 days before Nov. 5. The DOJ alleges the NVRA violation is found in the order’s requirement for the election commissioner to regularly update the state’s voter lists to remove individuals who have been “identified as noncitizens” and have not responded to requests to verify their citizenship in 14 days.
Youngkin hit back at the Biden-Harris administration and the DOJ for what he labeled an attack on American elections.
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 to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls.
Virginians – and Americans – will…
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 11, 2024
“With less than 30 days until the election, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice is filling an unprecedented lawsuit against me and the Commonwealth of Virginia, for appropriately enforcing a 2006 law to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls,” Youngkin wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“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,” the Virginia Governor concluded.
The DOJ launched a similar lawsuit against Alabama over the removal of illegal migrants from voter rolls on Sept. 28.
