The Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced that it was submitting a lawsuit in opposition to the “State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections” over the state’s enforcement of a 2006 legislation, eradicating non-citizens from voter lists.
In a press launch on Friday, the DOJ wrote that the elimination of voters from “election rolls” so near the upcoming presidential election violated “Part 8(c)(2)” of the Nationwide Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, “also referred to as the Quiet Interval Provision.”
Underneath Part 8(c)(2) of the NVRA, states are required “to finish systematic applications” with the intention to take away “the names of ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days earlier than federal elections,” the DOJ added:
Part 8(c)(2) of the NVRA, also referred to as the Quiet Interval Provision, requires states to finish systematic applications geared toward eradicating the names of ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days earlier than federal elections. The Quiet Interval Provision applies to sure systematic programms carried out by states which can be geared toward hanging names from voter registration lists based mostly on a perceived failure to fulfill preliminary eligibility necessities — together with citizenship — on the time of registraiton.
The DOJ’s lawsuit comes after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued an Government Order in August, which required “all registrars” to “cancel the registrations of non-citizens who’ve registered to vote in a neighborhood, state, or federal election by falsely claiming that they’re a citizen, together with the forging of documentation or every other technique of improper registration.”
In Youngkin’s announcement of the Government Order, he revealed that roughly “79,867 deceased voters” had been faraway from voter lists in 2023, and that roughly “6,303 non-citizens” had been taken off of voter lists between January 2022 and July 2024.
Assistant Legal professional Common Kristen Clarke with the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division defined that “by cancelling voter registrations inside 90 days” of an election, “certified voters” within the state had been positioned in danger “of being faraway from the rolls.”
“Because the Nationwide Voter Registration Act mandates, officers throughout the nation ought to take heed of the legislation’s crystal clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic listing upkeep efforts that fall inside 90 days of an election,” Clarke mentioned in an announcement. “By cancelling voter registrations inside 90 days of Election Day, Virginia locations certified voters in jeopardy of being faraway from the rolls and creates the danger of confusion for the citizens. Congress adopted the Nationwide Voter Registration Act’s quiet interval restriction to stop error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that every one too usually disenfranchise certified voters.”
Youngkin responded to the DOJ’s lawsuit in a press launch by labeling it as an “unprecedented lawsuit” in opposition to him “and the Commonwealth of Virginia, for appropriately imposing a 2006 legislation” that was signed by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who beforehand served because the governor of Virginia.
“Virginians – and Individuals – will see this for precisely what it’s,” Youngkin added. “A determined try and assault the legitimacy of the elections within the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy. With the assist of our Legal professional Common, we are going to defend these commonsense steps, that we’re legally required to take, with each useful resource out there to us.”
Youngkin added that the state’s election can be “safe and honest,” and said he would “not stand idly by as this politically motivated motion tries to intrude in our elections.”