The Justice Department is suing Virginia over its efforts to purge voter rolls within 90 days of an election, calling it a violation of federal voting laws. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order requiring daily updates to the voting list to identify “noncitizens.” However, some U.S. citizens were mistakenly identified and had their voter registrations canceled. Youngkin called the lawsuit politically motivated and an attack on election legitimacy, echoing former President Trump’s claims. Virginia has a history of voting Democratic and is currently facing a Senate race between Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican nominee Hung Cao. The Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights also filed a lawsuit against Youngkin, alleging the voter purge process was illegal, discriminatory, and error-ridden. The DOJ lawsuit aims to challenge Virginia’s citizenship purge program, which it claims has disenfranchised eligible voters on the eve of an election. This is the second DOJ lawsuit in the past month against a state for violating the National Voter Registration Act’s Quiet Provision, which prohibits systematic removals of voters close to a federal election. The lawsuit also follows a previous DOJ suit against Alabama for similar alleged violations. The Virginia Department of Elections and elections commissioner declined to comment on the pending litigation.
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Justice Department files lawsuit against Virginia for attempting to decrease voter registration prior to Election Day
