A new lawsuit in Virginia accuses the state’s governor and attorney general of engaging in an illegal “voter purge.”
On Monday, a coalition of immigrant-rights organizations and the League of Women Voters in Virginia filed a federal lawsuit accusing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares, also a Republican, of conducting an ongoing “purge” of voter rolls that the lawsuit says will disenfranchise legitimate voters.
The suit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, contends that Youngkin’s August executive order—mandating daily updates to voter rolls to remove ineligible voters—violates federal law, which requires a 90-day “quiet period” before elections for voter roll maintenance.
The lawsuit argues that the 90-day quiet period is meant to prevent mistakes in voter removals. It claims Virginia’s reliance on Department of Motor Vehicles data to determine voter eligibility will disenfranchise legitimate voters, as the DMV’s information is often inaccurate or outdated.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is seen on September 9, 2024, in Alexandria, Virginia. On Tuesday, a lawsuit was filed against top Virginia officials, accusing them of engaging in an illegal “voter purge.”
AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File/AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File
“The right to vote is fundamental and foundational to American democracy. Every American citizen has the right to vote, regardless of where they were born. This action challenges a voter purge effort (the ‘Purge Program’) that patently violates Congress‘s framework for protecting these fundamental rights through the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”),” the lawsuit said. “Defendants’ Purge Program is far from…a well-designed, well-intended list maintenance effort. It is an illegal, discriminatory, and error-ridden program that has directed the cancelation of voter registrations of naturalized U.S. citizens and jeopardizes the rights of countless others.”
The lawsuit highlights that immigrant citizens are especially vulnerable, as individuals can obtain driver’s licenses while they are lawful permanent residents, refugees or asylum applicants and later become naturalized citizens. However, the Department of Motor Vehicles may continue to classify them as noncitizens, putting them at risk of being wrongfully removed from voter rolls.
“Every step in the established list maintenance process is mandated by Virginia law and begins after an individual indicates they are not a citizen. The DMV is mandated by law to send information about individuals who indicate they are a noncitizen in DMV transactions to (the state elections office),” Christian Martinez, a spokesman for Youngkin, said in a statement to The Associated Press (AP). “Anyone spreading misinformation about it is either ignoring Virginia law or is trying to undermine it because they want noncitizens to vote.”
Shaun Kenney, a spokesperson for the attorney general, responded to the AP via email, saying, “We are confident in the stance the Department of Elections has taken and are prepared to defend it.”
It’s unclear how many voters have been removed due to the executive order. The lawsuit claims that the Virginia Department of Elections has refused to release data on its removal efforts. According to Youngkin’s executive order, 6,303 voters were taken off the rolls between January 2022 and July 2023 over questions about their citizenship status.
The lawsuit points to anecdotal evidence of county boards removing voters since Youngkin’s executive order was issued, including during the federally mandated 90-day quiet period. In Fairfax County, Virginia’s largest jurisdiction, meeting minutes from the August electoral board session reveal that 49 voters were removed.
According to the meeting minutes, the elections office received data indicating that 66 voters were likely noncitizens. The information came from both the state elections office and an “Election Integrity Task Force” linked to the Fairfax County Republican Committee. The elections office sent notices to all 66 individuals, giving them 14 days to verify their citizenship and eligibility. Seventeen responded and were kept on the voter rolls, while the remaining 49 were removed. Their names were forwarded to the commonwealth’s attorney and the Virginia attorney general’s office for possible prosecution.
Orion Danjuma, an attorney with The Protect Democracy Project—one of the groups representing the plaintiffs—said the actions in Virginia are part of a broader national effort by supporters of former President Donald Trump to undermine confidence in election integrity and delegitimize the results if Trump loses in November.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
