Nov 25, 2024 Story by: Editor
A federal appeals court has declined to reinstate Virginia’s controversial voter purge program, which sought to remove suspected noncitizens from voter rolls. This decision upholds a lower court ruling that found the program likely violated federal rules prohibiting “systematic” voter roll purges within 90 days of an election.
The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling on Sunday, potentially paving the way for a Supreme Court battle over the issue as early voting continues in Virginia. Republicans, including Donald Trump, have spotlighted the case—a consolidation of lawsuits filed by the Biden administration and private advocacy groups—as part of broader claims about noncitizen voting, despite evidence showing such instances are exceedingly rare.
The 4th Circuit’s decision clarified that Virginia officials could still address noncitizen voting by canceling registrations on an individual basis or prosecuting any noncitizen who votes.
Earlier, US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, a Biden appointee, ordered an immediate halt to the program on Friday. She also directed election officials to reinstate the voter registrations of approximately 1,600 individuals who had been removed during the “90-day quiet period.” Of those, 600 were removed after indicating noncitizenship on a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) form, while the remaining 1,000 were removed based on government database records suggesting noncitizenship.
Former President Trump criticized the ruling on Truth Social, alleging that a “Weaponized Department of ‘Injustice'” and a Biden-appointed judge had ordered Virginia to “PUT NON-CITIZEN VOTERS BACK ON THE ROLLS.” He urged the Supreme Court to intervene, expressing hope that it would overturn the decision.
At the core of the dispute is whether Virginia’s approach constitutes the “systematic” purges that Congress intended to prevent with the 90-day rule in the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. Critics of the program argue that such efforts often risk disenfranchising eligible voters. They cited evidence showing that, within 36 hours of obtaining the state’s list of purged voters, at least 18 individuals were confirmed to be citizens eligible to vote.
Voting rights groups and immigrant advocates also pointed to issues with the DMV form, arguing that its design frequently leads citizens to mistakenly select the noncitizen checkbox.
Virginia officials, however, contend that the 90-day provision does not apply to their program, as it specifically targets noncitizens. They further argued that reinstating the purged voters could lead to confusion and complicate the fair administration of elections.
The 4th Circuit ruling was delivered by a panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by President Obama and one by President Biden. Source: CNN
