GOP drive to revive Virginia voter purge strikes out at appeals court

[RandySF]

A bid by Republican officials in Virginia to purge of potential non-citizens from the voter rolls there appears headed for the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court refused to disturb a lower court order that halted the effort and ordered some recently-removed voters restored.

In an unusual Sunday ruling, a unanimous panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals largely rebuffed arguments from lawyers for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin that an injunction the Justice Department and civil rights groups obtained against the program from a lower-court judge Friday was legally flawed and would be too disruptive to administer in the just over a week remaining before Election Day.

Youngkin’s attorneys argued that a ban in federal law on systematic programs to remove voters in the 90 days before a federal election does not apply to efforts aimed at removing non-citizens, but the appeals court forcefully rejected that as an “argument that violates basic principles of statutory construction.”

The three-judge panel’s order stressed that Virginia officials “remain able to prevent noncitizens from voting by canceling registrations on an individualized basis or prosecuting any noncitizen who votes,” but said a system Virginia uses to match citizenship data from the Department of Motor Vehicles with voter rolls appears to violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 when implemented during the so-called “quiet period” before elections.




https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/10/27/2024-elections-live-coverage-updates-analysis/virginia-voter-purge-still-on-hold-00185734

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. I can't wait to hear the legal arguments when Trump loses by 15MM votes nationwide.

[J_William_Ryan]

2. "...non-citizens from the voter rolls..."

As in rolls listing registered voters.

One would assume Virginia requires residents to document their citizenship before being registered to vote and placed on voter rolls.

In which case there are no non-citizens registered to vote – or so few as to not justify a purge – and this this is more meritless political theater and fearmongering by the dishonest right, and the continuation of the Republican war on democracy.