The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Virginia over the state’s efforts to purge voter rolls within 90 days of an election, which they say violates federal voting laws. This came after Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order requiring daily updates to the voting list and canceling registrations of individuals identified as noncitizens. However, some of these individuals were found to be U.S. citizens, leading to unnecessary cancellations.
The lawsuit alleges that Virginia’s actions confused, deterred, and removed eligible U.S. citizens from the voter rolls, which goes against federal voting laws. Previous efforts in Prince William County found that out of 162 identified noncitizens, 43 were U.S. citizens. Youngkin has called the lawsuit politically motivated and an attack on the election’s legitimacy.
Former President Donald Trump has weighed in, praising Youngkin and accusing the Justice Department of undermining democracy. The DOJ’s lawsuit is the second in a month against states for alleged violations of the National Voter Registration Act.
Virginia, a traditionally Democratic state in presidential elections since 2004, is facing a tight Senate race between Tim Kaine and Hung Cao. The Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights filed a separate lawsuit against Youngkin, alleging that the voter purge process was illegal and discriminatory. The DOJ lawsuit has been praised by the organization for challenging Virginia’s citizenship purge program, which they say disenfranchised eligible voters on the eve of an election.
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