Virginia on Monday asked the Supreme Court to give the green lithe to removing more than 1,600 people from the state’s voter rolls.
State officials claim the people are not citizens, but the Justice Department disputed that claim and persuaded a district judge to reinstate the voters because the deportations occurred too close to the election.
Virginia is now asking the Supreme Court for urgent relief to stay that ruling after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to do so in a uncommon Sunday decision.
“Not only will the Commonwealth of Virginia suffer irreparable harm without a delay, but also its constituents and the public at large,” the state wrote in its emergency motion.
Although research suggests so Non-citizen elections are uncommonRepublicans have taken up the issue as the election approaches. Former President Trump brought up the court-ordered restoration of registrations in Virginia at a campaign rally on Friday. calls it “outrageous.”
The Justice Department and a group of private plaintiffs allege Virginia violated the federal National Voter Registration Act’s ban on systematically purging voter rolls within 90 days of an election. The Justice Department has also sued Alabama.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued an executive order exactly 90 days before Election Day formalizing a program to purge would-be non-citizens from the state’s rolls – removing more than 1,600 people, according to court documents.
Election officials in Virginia say the people were identified as noncitizens using a federal database or Department of Motor Vehicles forms.
But when U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles blocked the deportations on Friday, she noted that challengers had quickly found citizens on the list and that some of the discrepancies could be explained by user error. Giles was appointed by President Biden.
A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit, all appointed by Democratic presidents, largely rejected Virginia’s emergency request to stay the ruling. In uncommon cases the decision was made on the weekend.
The 4th Circuit upheld Giles’ decision, except for a provision that directed Virginia to educate poll workers and the public about voter restoration. The panel said the requirement was “not sufficiently clear”.
Virginia officials “remain able to deter non-citizens from voting by canceling registrations on an individual basis or prosecuting any non-citizen who votes,” the panel wrote in its decision.
