A heated legal dispute unfolds as Virginia's leadership clashes with federal courts over the removal of suspected noncitizen voters from state rolls.
According to Fox News, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision on Sunday, mandating the reinstatement of approximately 1,600 Virginia voters who were previously removed due to citizenship concerns.
The ruling comes as a significant setback to Governor Glenn Youngkin's August executive order that aimed to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls.
The legal battle intensified after immigrant and women's rights organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the state's actions. The Justice Department joined the fray on October 11, filing its own lawsuit against Virginia, arguing that the voter removal process violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
The appeals court dismissed Virginia's legal interpretation, which attempted to differentiate between actual voters and the removal of noncitizens.
State attorneys had argued that the law specifically applied to actual voters, but the court found this reasoning unconvincing.
U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction on Friday, ordering the reinstatement of all removed voters within the past 90 days. The judge determined that the state's actions constituted a "systematic" removal rather than an individualized process.
Governor Youngkin expressed strong opposition to the ruling, stating:
Let's be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls.
Governor Youngkin has vowed to pursue the case to the Supreme Court, taking to social media platform X to express his determination. The governor emphasized what he views as a commonsense approach to maintaining voter roll integrity.
The timing of the potential Supreme Court appeal adds another layer of complexity to the situation, as it would need to be addressed just days before the November 5 general election. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has already begun the process of filing an emergency appeal.
The state maintains that the removed individuals had previously provided immigration documents confirming their noncitizen status, a claim they say was verified by federal authorities.
The controversy highlights the ongoing tension between voter access and election security measures. The Justice Department's involvement underscores the federal government's role in enforcing voter protection laws, particularly concerning the timing of voter roll maintenance.
This case represents a significant test of state authority in managing voter rolls versus federal oversight of election procedures. The outcome could have implications for how states handle voter eligibility verification in future elections.
