ALEXANDRIA, Va. — On Friday, a federal judge mandated that Virginia reinstate over 1,600 voter registrations that had been improperly eliminated in an attempt to prevent noncitizens from participating in elections.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles issued an injunction following a request from the Justice Department, which contended that the cancellations occurred during a designated 90-day quiet period before the November elections. This time frame is meant to limit states from making significant alterations to their voter rolls.
At the hearing’s conclusion, Thomas Sanford, an attorney from the Virginia attorney general’s office, announced the state’s plan to appeal the judge’s decision.
According to the Justice Department and advocacy groups such as the League of Women Voters, many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were revoked were actually U.S. citizens. These cancellations were attributed to administrative errors or simple mistakes, like a box being incorrectly checked on a registration form.
Justice Department lawyer Sejal Jhaveri highlighted the importance of federal law during an extensive injunction hearing. She pointed out that the law exists to prevent eligible voters from being removed from voter rolls in a crucial period when rectifying such errors can be challenging.
Judge Giles noted that while Virginia is not entirely barred from removing noncitizens from the voting rolls during the quiet period, it must take individualized actions rather than relying on the automated, systematic processes currently in place. On the other hand, state officials argued that the purged registrations followed thorough procedures aimed at identifying individuals who had explicitly marked themselves as noncitizens with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
State lawyer Charles Cooper asserted during the arguments that the federal law was never designed to protect noncitizens, as they are not permitted to vote in federal elections. He questioned, “How could Congress intend to prevent the removal of individuals who were never eligible to vote at all?”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, however, contended that many individuals are inaccurately identified as noncitizens due to mistakes made on DMV forms. They admitted they couldn’t pinpoint exactly how many of the 1,600 purged voters were citizens, but they provided anecdotal evidence of citizens whose registrations were unjustly canceled.
Although Cooper admitted that some of the purged individuals might indeed be citizens, he expressed concerns that reinstating everyone could result in numerous noncitizens returning to the voter rolls, potentially canceling out legal votes. He also argued that with the election imminent, reinstating registrations would add an undue burden on election officials who are already busy. He criticized the plaintiffs for not acting sooner.
Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, had earlier issued an executive order in August, necessitating daily comparisons of DMV data against current voter rolls to spot any noncitizens. According to state officials, anyone identified as a noncitizen was informed and given two weeks to contest their removal. If they proved their citizenship, their registration would remain intact.
In interviews, Youngkin has raised questions about the motivations behind the Justice Department’s legal action. “How could I, as governor, allow noncitizens to remain on the voter rolls?” he questioned during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.
Following the hearing on Friday, Virginia’s Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, criticized the ruling, stating, “It should never be illegal to remove an illegal voter. The court, influenced by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice, has ordered Virginia to reinstate non-citizens on the voter rolls just days before a presidential election.”
Nearly 6 million residents of Virginia are currently registered to vote. Similar legal action has occurred in Alabama, where a federal judge recently ordered the reinstatement of eligibility for over 3,200 voters classified as noncitizens. Testimony from officials in that case revealed that approximately 2,000 of those who were marked inactive were actually legally registered voters.
