D Office of the Governor of Virginia What it calls an “unprecedented” Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit in response to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to remove noncitizens from its voter rolls is stunning.
The DOJ alleges that Youngkin violated the National Voter Registration Act by issuing an executive order requiring election commissioners to regularly update state voter rolls to remove people who were “identified as non-citizens” and did not respond to requests to verify their citizenship. . Within 14 days.
Virginia announced that it evacuated more than 6,000 people between January 2022 and July 2024.
With thousands of non-citizens excluded from the electoral roll, dozens of lawmakers want answers from Mala
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at a press conference at the Department of Justice on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
complaint Federal law states that states must end their maintenance program within 90 days of the election under a provision known as the cooling-off period clause. The complaint noted that voters were identified as potentially noncitizens if they answered “no” to questions about their citizenship status on certain forms submitted to the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
“This systematic voter removal program, which the state is conducting 90 days after the next federal election, violates the quiet period provisions,” the DOJ said.
The Justice Department is seeking injunctive relief that will “restore the ability of affected eligible voters to vote freely on Election Day” and “prohibit future violations of the quiet period,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Dose sued Virginia for allegedly exempting non-citizens from voting lists too close to the election
Virginia Governor Glenn Yonkin speaks on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the FiServ Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee. (Reuters/Jinah Moon)
However, in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital, the governor's office called the DOJ's action an “unprecedented process” targeting the state “to adequately enforce Virginia's law, signed by then-Governor Tim Kaine in 2006, that required Virginia to remove non-citizens from voter rolls – a process that begins when a person self-indicates that they are a non-citizen during a DMV transaction.
The memo was written by the governor's counsel, Richard Cullen, and said the process in Virginia has been done under both Republican and Democratic governors. He also argues that the 90-day quiet period is not relevant “because Virginia conducts a separate – and non-routine – review under Virginia law to amend registration records.”
It also says that the process is mandatory by law and is not at the discretion of the governor. The memo also states that individuals are notified twice of cancellation by mail and email, and that the state offers same-day voter registration if someone incorrectly indicates that they are not a citizen. Youngkin previously called the case “a desperate attempt to attack the crucible of American democracy, the validity of the Commonwealth elections.”
DOJ: Illegal Immigrant Stole Identity of US Citizen to Vote in Multiple Elections and Obtain US Passport
Virginia Governor Glenn Yonkin speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Fischer Forum on Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (Getty Images via Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg)
The Virginia order and subsequent court cases are the latest in a wave of Republican concerns about potential noncitizen voting and potential disenfranchisement by Democrats and the administration.
The DOJ sued Alabama last month for purging the state's supposed non-citizen voters.
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Meanwhile, dozens of House and Senate lawmakers have asked the DOJ for more information about what they consider a “serious threat” to election integrity due to the potential for noncitizens to vote.
In August, Republican lawmakers pushed for the SAVE Act, which aimed to require states to personally obtain proof of citizenship when a person is registered to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, to be attached. Account extension cost To avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
The DOJ itself recently announced that it charged an illegal immigrant with theft US Citizen Identification voting in multiple elections and fraudulently obtaining a U.S. passport.
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitton contributed to this report.
