A federal judge in Virginia on Friday ordered Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to restore 1,600 voters to the rolls after his office removed them in August, claiming they were not American citizens.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles granted the injunction request after the Justice Department sued Youngkin on Oct. 11, alleging that the removals violated the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day “Quiet Period” before the general election.
The law prohibits any systematic changes to voter rolls so close to the election since there isn’t enough time to remedy conflicts that could arise.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit was combined with a lawsuit brought by the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the League of Women Voters of Virginia, the League of Women Voters of Virginia Education Fund and African Communities Together.
They argued the governor’s purge removed many eligible citizens over simple errors made on forms — and some of those errors, plaintiffs said, were because agencies like the Department of Motor Vehicles simply incorrectly labeled them as noncitizens on forms.
Those plaintiffs also argued the purge effort had discriminated against people based on race or national origin. Giles, however, did not issue a decision on whether Youngkin’s program was discriminatory.
All 1,600 voters who were removed from the rolls must now be notified by Virginia officials within five days so they can get themselves reinstated by Election Day.
Youngkin issued the executive order in August, with exactly 90 days to go until the Nov. 5 election. It instructed the DMV to pore over voter rolls and compare records to find noncitizens.
Giles’ decision indicates that removing noncitizens from voting rolls is permitted, but that the process must be undertaken on a case-by-case basis, not in a sweeping removal where there was no individualized check on a person’s citizenship status.
In a statement, Youngkin vowed to appeal the ruling and take the matter all the way to the Supreme Court “if necessary.”