Virginia voter purge

Judge sounds inclined to halt Virginia voter purge

Systematically trimming voter rolls so close to Election Day violates federal law, DOJ says.

Josh Gerstein

A federal judge signaled that she will likely order Virginia to restore about 1,600 people to its voter rolls after the state removed them in the past three months.

Virginia says it has removed people who are not U.S. citizens. But the Justice Department and voting rights groups say that many of the removals may be erroneous — and that trimming the voter rolls so close to Election Day violates federal law.

During several hours of arguments in federal court Thursday, Judge Patricia Giles expressed skepticism about the defenses Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) and other state officials have offered for removing voters during a 90-day, preelection quiet period during which federal law prohibits “systematic” efforts to clean up the voting rolls.

Giles, an appointee of Joe Biden, seemed poised to order the state to stop the systematic removal and to reinstate those who have already been removed during the 90-day window. However, she did not immediately issue a ruling.

Both Youngkin and Donald Trump have complained that the Biden administration is trying to keep foreigners on the voting rolls, despite indications that evidence of actual voting by non-citizens is extraordinarily rare.

Most or all of the removals under the Virginia program involve individuals who indicated on Department of Motor Vehicles forms that they are not citizens. Sometimes people simply check the wrong box, and in some instances the DMV actually has records proving those same people are citizens.

Giles is overseeing two lawsuits challenging the Virginia program — one brought by immigrant rights groups and the League of Women Voters, the other brought by the Justice Department.

Youngkin rolled out serious legal firepower for Thursday’s court session, turning to longtime GOP attorney and former Justice Department official Charles Cooper to defend the state.