Virginia pushes Supreme Court to uphold voter removals ahead of election
Virginia appeals to Supreme Court to block reinstatement of removed voters
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has filed an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court, seeking to halt a lower court order mandating that 1,600 individuals removed from the state’s voter rolls be reinstated. FOX 5's Katie Barlow has the story.
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has filed an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court, seeking to halt a lower court order mandating that 1,600 individuals removed from the state’s voter rolls be reinstated.
The appeal was filed late Sunday night with Chief Justice John Roberts.
This request follows a ruling by a federal judge on Friday, stating that Virginia’s removal of these voters, labeled as "so-called noncitizens," violated federal voter registration law due to the timing, with Election Day approaching.
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Virginia must restore 1,600 voter registrations purged ahead of election, judge rules
A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting.
Virginia’s appeal to a federal circuit court was denied over the weekend, leading Miyares to take the issue to the Supreme Court.
In the filing, Miyares argued that forcing Virginia to reinstate these voters would cause "irreparable harm" to the state and its residents.
He described those removed as "self-identified noncitizens," though some individuals insist they are citizens, according to Eric Olsen, Registrar for the Prince William County Board of Elections.
Federal judge orders Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations
U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles granted an injunction request brought against Virginia election officials by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election.
Olsen shared findings from a review of 150 removed voters, where 43 had voting histories, all of whom had validated their citizenship on multiple forms.
"Every single one of them had a Social Security number and confirmed their citizenship somewhere between one to five times," Olsen said.
DOJ sues Virginia over voter purge; Youngkin calls lawsuit 'politically motivated'
Governor Glenn Youngkin issued a statement Friday after the Department of Justice announced it had filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia.
While Miyares has offered that individuals wrongfully removed could re-register on Election Day, voting rights groups argue that many — such as out-of-state college students — would be unable to meet requirements since the absentee ballot deadline has passed.
The Voting Rights Coalition has also voiced concern over voters who are misidentified as noncitizens due to outdated DMV records.
Read the full emergency appeal below: