The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Virginia to stop the cancellation of voter registrations that were in violation of federal law. Governor Glenn Youngkin defended the state’s policy of cancelling the registration of suspected noncitizens, citing it as state policy for 18 years. The lawsuit criticized Virginia for removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of an election, which is against a federal voting law from 1993. The Department asked for the restoration of the registrations of voters who were removed from the rolls since August 7, as well as training of officials and poll workers to prevent confusion around eligible voters being accused of noncitizenship.
Governor Youngkin’s executive order from August 7 required the daily comparison of DMV noncitizen lists with voter registration lists, leading to 6,303 suspected noncitizens being removed between January 2022 and July 2024. However, concerns were raised about citizens being removed from the rolls, with 43 likely U.S. citizens identified in Prince William County alone.
Studies have shown that noncitizen voting is rare, with the Brennan Center finding 30 instances out of 23.5 million votes cast in 2016. Despite this, Republicans have focused on preventing noncitizen voting as a key issue in elections. The Justice Department has also filed a similar lawsuit against Alabama for similar violations of federal voting laws. Concerns have also been raised about postal delays affecting the timely notifications of voter cancellations and responses in Virginia.
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