A humorous thing happened heading into Election Day 2024: While the Commonwealth of Virginia followed the same law it had followed for 18 years – under both Democratic and Republican administrations – and removed non-citizens from its voter rolls, the Biden-Harris Department non-citizens from its voter rolls The Court ruled that it was imperative to sue the state over this practice.
Here is some additional background information on this topic, compliments of Teri Christoph:
As RedState reported, the Biden-Harris Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Youngkin two weeks ago, alleging he illegally purged Virginia’s voter rolls in August, when the names of over 6,000 non-citizens were removed. The lawsuit seemed like a strange and unnecessary move by the Justice Department at the time, as Virginia seemed like a diversionary tactic for Kamala Harris. Maybe things were a little too close for comfort?
Youngkin appeared on FOX News last weekend on Sunday explain Host Shannon Bream, all about the name removal process:
“To be clear, this is not a purge, but a law signed into law in 2006 by then-Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine.
It starts with the basic premise: If someone comes into one of our DMVs and claims to be a non-citizen and then ends up on the voter rolls – intentionally or accidentally – we go through… an individual process based on that person’s self-identification person as a non-citizen and gives them fourteen days to confirm that they are a citizen. And if not, they disappear from the voter rolls.
And by the way, they have one last guarantee: you can register and cast a provisional vote on the same day.”
Youngkin added that the timing was questionable: “It’s been in effect for eighteen years, it’s been widely used by Republican and Democratic governors, and now, all of a sudden, when things get tight in Virginia… a lawsuit is brought against the Commonwealth.” “ of Virginia if we want to make sure citizens, not non-citizens, are voting.”
Our DOJ at Work: Department Sues Virginia for Dangerous Job on Election Integrity
“Don’t be silly, non-citizens don’t vote” – Virginia would like a word
As Teri reported, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles on Friday ordered a halt to Virginia’s deportation program and also ordered the state to reinstate over 1,600 of the deposed voters.
Virginia immediately appealed the case to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. On Sunday the appeal court disputed Virginia’s motion to stay the district court’s preliminary injunction. According to this judgment:
Plaintiffs’ claims of irreparable harm without reprieve are tender. Under the injunction, appellants still have the option of preventing non-citizens from voting by canceling registrations individually or by prosecuting every non-citizen who votes – options the district court addressed at the hearing and in its brief decision expressly stated. See ECF 11-1, at A-467, A-473, A-492. And the district court did not err in concluding that both the balance of interests and the public interest favor interim equitable relief that gives full force and effect to a federal law designed to prevent voter registration purges in to prevent last-minute voting and to ensure that people who do this do so. People who are legally entitled to vote are not prevented from doing so by faulty databases or bureaucratic errors. See Arcia, 772 F.3d, 1346 (noting that during the 90-day repose period “the bill changes” to avoid erroneously removing eligible voters).
Although the court found that part of the district court’s order was not clear enough and therefore granted a stay of that provision, the essence of the decision remains for now.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) confirmed they would immediately appeal to the Supreme Court.
Virginia will immediately appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.https://t.co/POx7aMUV03
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) October 27, 2024
With eight days to go before Election Day, we will know pretty quickly how SCOTUS will respond. Stay tuned.
