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Virginia: Justice Department sues Youngkin administration over voter purge

Chris Graham
glenn youngkin
(© Eli Wilson – Shutterstock)

The U.S. Justice Department is suing the Youngkin administration over its removal of voters from the election rolls in advance of the Nov. 5 election.

The suit alleges that the state, pursuant to an Aug. 7 executive order from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, is in violation of Section 8(c)(2) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the Quiet Period Provision, which requires states to complete systematic programs aimed at removing the names of ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections.

The Quiet Period Provision applies to certain systematic programs carried out by states that are aimed at striking names from voter registration lists based on a perceived failure to meet initial eligibility requirements – including citizenship –  at the time of registration.

“As the National Voter Registration Act mandates, officials across the country should take heed of the law’s crystal clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election,” said Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division at DOJ.

“By cancelling voter registrations within 90 days of Election Day, Virginia places qualified voters in jeopardy of being removed from the rolls and creates the risk of confusion for the electorate,” Clarke said. “Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy and the Justice Department will continue to ensure that the rights of qualified voters are protected.”


Voter info

Voters with questions about their voter registration or any aspect of voting should contact the nonpartisan Election Protection hotlines:

  • 866-OUR-VOTE (English)
  • 888-VE-Y-VOTA (Spanish)
  • 844-YALLA-US (Arabic)
  • 888-API-VOTE (Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese)

The voter purge under the Youngkin executive order is also the subject of a lawsuit that was filed in federal court on Tuesday by the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the League of Women Voters of Virginia.

The suit points to a flaw in the language of the executive order regarding the requirement that state and local election officials to remove individuals from the state voter registration list if Department of Motor Vehicles records do not indicate U.S. citizenship.

As the complaint explains, Virginia driver’s licenses are available to non-citizens and can remain valid for up to eight years, meaning people who obtained driver’s licenses as non-citizens, then subsequently became U.S. citizens and lawfully registered to vote, are being purged from the voter rolls based on outdated DMV information.

The new suit from the Justice Department raises issue with the language in Youngkin’s executive order regarding “Daily Updates to the Voter List,” which are used to “compare the list of individuals who have been identified as non-citizens” by the DMV “to the list of existing registered voters.”

Local registrars are then required to “notify any matches of their pending cancellation unless they affirm their citizenship within 14 days.” The letter of notification directs recipients who are in fact U.S. citizens and eligible to vote to complete and return an Affirmation of Citizenship form, and informs voters that, if they do not respond to the notice within 14 days, they will be removed from the list of registered voters.

This process has led to U.S. citizens having their voter registrations cancelled, according to the DOJ suit.

The process laid out in the executive order formalized an ongoing list maintenance procedure that has been carried out into the quiet period, including at least as recently as late September, the DOJ suit alleges.

This systematic voter removal program, which the State is conducting within 90 days of the upcoming federal election, violates the Quiet Period Provision.

The Justice Department is seeking injunctive relief that would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote unimpeded on Election Day and would prohibit future quiet period violations. The department also seeks remedial mailings to educate eligible voters concerning the restoration of their rights and adequate training of local officials and poll workers to address confusion and distrust among eligible voters accused of being noncitizens.

Youngkin’s office issued a statement on the suit, calling it “unprecedented.”

“With less than 30 days until the election, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice is filing an unprecedented lawsuit against me and the Commonwealth of Virginia, for appropriately enforcing a 2006 law signed by Democrat Tim Kaine that requires Virginia to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls – a process that starts with someone declaring themselves a non-citizen and then registering to vote. Virginians – and Americans – will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy. With the support of our attorney general, we will defend these commonsense steps, that we are legally required to take, with every resource available to us. Virginia’s election will be secure and fair, and I will not stand idly by as this politically motivated action tries to interfere in our elections, period.”

Resources


  • Individuals who are eligible voters and believe that they may have been removed from the voter rolls as a result of Virginia’s systematic removal process should contact the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section through the internet reporting portal at justice.gov or by telephone at 1-800-253-3931.
  • More information about voting and elections, including guidance documents and other resources, is available at justice.gov/voting.
  • More information about the NVRA and other federal voting laws is available at justice.gov/crt/voting-section.
  • The department recently announceda new guidance document addressing limits on when and how jurisdictions may remove voters from their voter lists.
  • Complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be reported to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section through the internet reporting portal at justice.govor by telephone at 1-800-253-3931.

 

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].