Voting Rights Controversy: Virginia Seeks Supreme Court Clearance to Purge Voter Rolls

Suspected Noncitizens on Voter Rolls

In a recent development, the Virginia Attorney General, Jason Miyares, has filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court, ingeniously advocating for the reinstatement of a voter purge plan designed to expunge the voter registrations of suspected noncitizens in the state.

The Injunction Against the Purge

Critically, earlier this week, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles that blocks this state initiative. Judge Giles substantiated her ruling on the premise that federal law prohibits any form of voter purges within 90 days of an election. The law further necessitates that the state must reinstate registrations of all those who have been erroneously removed during this time frame.

Virginia’s Response

While commenting on the decision of the lower court, Miyares claimed that the ruling contravenes Virginia law and lacks common sense. Further, he expressed concerns that this could lead to an overload of the state’s electoral machinery and potentially cause misunderstanding among noncitizens about their voting rights.

Deadline for Compliance

The Supreme Court’s decision is acute with urgency because the District Court has ordered that Virginia must comply with the judgment by Wednesday. Consequently, the Supreme Court needs to reach a decision by Tuesday.

Advocacy and Legal Opposition

The state’s policy has met with robust opposition from several voting-rights groups who contend that the law unfairly targets naturalized citizens by purging them from the rolls for prior declarations as noncitizens on motor vehicle forms. In response, the Governor’s program now stipulates that suspected noncitizens are given a 14-day window to affirm their citizenship or face removal from the voter rolls.

Jurisdictional Challenge

The significant lapse in time since these motor vehicle declarations were made has led advocacy groups and the Justice Department to challenge the program in court. They argue that naturalized citizens are being unjustly removed from the rolls.

Prince William County Case Study

This is corroborated by incidents in Prince William County where the Registrar, Eric Olsen, revealed that he reviewed 162 people listed as noncitizens in the system and found 43 who had previously voted. All of these individuals had validated their citizenship, with some providing verification up to five times.

Insights into Noncitizen Voting: Relevant Studies

An analysis of noncitizen voting using independent research undertaken by the Brennan Center for Justice and the libertarian Cato Institute have found that voting by noncitizens is virtually non-existent. However, removal of suspected noncitizens from voter rolls has been a focal point of many Republican-led lawsuits this year in the pursuit of ensuring voter integrity.

Call to Preserve the Democratic Process

Given these challenging realities, it is timely for legal experts and civil rights advocates to call for a carefully balanced approach that preserves the democratic process, ensures the discouragement of noncitizens from voting, but also minimizes the risk of disenfranchising eligible voters in the process.

Originally Post From https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/28/federal-appeals-court-virginia-suspected-noncitizens/75885661007/

Supreme Court Challenged by Virginia to Approve Purging of Suspected Noncitizens