The Biden-Harris Department of Justice took a funny turn on the road to Election Day in 2024. While Virginia has followed the same laws for 18 years, under both Democrat- and Republican-led administrations, and removed non-citizens as voters from its rolls, they decided to sue Virginia over this practice.
Teri Christoph has provided some additional background information on this issue.
We have reported that the Biden-Harris Justice Department filed a suit against Youngkin two weeks ago. They alleged he illegally purged Virginia’s voter lists in August when over 6,000 names of non-citizens were removed. At the time, the DOJ’s lawsuit seemed a strange and unnecessary move since Virginia was a sure thing for Kamala Harris. Maybe things were just a bit too close to call?
Youngkin explained to Shannon Bream, the host of FOX News Sunday on the weekend before last, the steps involved in removing names.
“It is important to note that this is not a purge. It is based upon a 2006 law signed by the then-Democrat Governor Tim Kaine.”
We begin with the premise that if someone enters a DMV and declares themselves a noncitizen and then ends up on voter rolls, either intentionally or accidentally, we will go through…an individual process, based upon that person’s declaration of noncitizenship, giving them 14 days to confirm they are a US citizen. If they do not, then they are removed from the voter list.
“And, by the way… they have a last safety net. They can register on the same day and cast a provisional vote.”
Youngkin said that the timing of the lawsuit was questionable: “It has been in place for 18 years and it’s been used by both Republican and Democrat Governors. And now, suddenly, as Virginia gets tighter…it launches a suit against the Commonwealth of Virginia, while we are trying to make sure citizens, not noncitizens, vote.”
Teri reported that on Friday U.S. district judge Patricia Tolliver Giles halted Virginia’s removal program and ordered the state of Virginia to restore over 1,600 voters who were removed.
Virginia appealed immediately to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate court rejected Virginia’s request for a stay on the preliminary injunction issued by the district court. According to that ruling:
The claims of irreparable harm by the appellants are not strong enough to warrant a stay. The preliminary injunction allows appellants to keep noncitizens away from the voting booth by canceling individual registrations or prosecuting noncitizens who vote. This option was specifically highlighted at the hearing as well as in the written order of the district court. ECF 11-1 at A-467. A-473. A-492. The district court did no err when it concluded that the balance of equities, and the public’s interest, favor interim equitable relief to give full effect to federal law which prevents last-minute purges from voter registration and ensures that people legally entitled to vote do not get prevented from voting by bureaucratic errors or faulty databases. Arcia, 772 F.3d, at 1346. (Noting that during the 90 days of quiet, “the calculus” changes in favor of not incorrectly removing voters).
The district court order in question was deemed to be unclear by the court, and so a stay of execution for that portion of it was granted. However, the rest of the decision remains unchanged.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares confirmed they will be filing an appeal immediately to the Supreme Court.
Virginia will be filing an appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court immediately.https://t.co/POx7aMUV03
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) October 27, 2024
We’ll find out fairly quickly what the SCOTUS has to say about this eight-day period before Election Day. Keep an eye on the news.
