Virginia Appeals to SCOTUS to Remove Non-Citizens from Voter Rolls, Citing 'Commonsense'

With the 2024 election around the corner, Virginia is urgently asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold its right to remove non-citizens from voter rolls, challenging a lower court decision that mandates the state reinstate non-citizens just days before voting begins. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares have led the appeal, arguing that maintaining non-citizens on the voter rolls undermines election integrity and runs counter to existing state and federal election laws.

The legal dispute began when U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles, a Biden appointee, ruled that Virginia’s purge of non-citizens from voter lists violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by conducting removals within a “quiet period” just before the election. The decision, which was upheld by a federal appeals court on Sunday, has drawn sharp criticism from Youngkin, who insists that purging non-citizens is both legal and essential to protecting Virginia’s electoral integrity.

• Youngkin’s executive order: Youngkin directed state officials to cross-reference voter rolls with DMV data, resulting in the removal of 1,600 non-citizens who self-identified as ineligible to vote.

• Contested “quiet period”: The NVRA’s 90-day deadline has been used by Virginia officials to justify removing non-citizens, while opponents argue it prevents last-minute administrative errors in purging voters.

• Historical precedent: Virginia’s law to remove non-citizens, signed in 2006 by then-Governor Tim Kaine (D), has been enforced for nearly two decades under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

“It’s commonsense: noncitizens shouldn’t be on our voter rolls,” Youngkin asserted on social media, emphasizing that Virginia’s 2006 law includes multiple safeguards to verify citizenship before removing voters from the rolls. According to Youngkin, the law has been applied consistently since its enactment, and he notes that Virginia offers same-day provisional ballot registration, ensuring that any legitimate voter mistakenly removed can still cast a ballot.

The Department of Justice, under the Biden-Harris administration, joined private organizations in challenging Virginia’s voter roll procedures. The DOJ contends that the 90-day “quiet period” exists to protect citizens from errors in voter roll maintenance. However, many view the DOJ’s involvement as part of a wider effort by the Biden administration to weaken election security measures under the guise of protecting voter rights.

Former President Donald Trump also weighed in on the matter, denouncing what he called the “weaponized” Justice Department under President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “Only U.S. Citizens should be allowed to vote. Keep fighting, Glenn – AND REPUBLICANS IN VIRGINIA, KEEP VOTING EARLY!” Trump wrote, voicing strong support for Youngkin’s appeal.

Youngkin’s administration argues that the removal of non-citizens is necessary to uphold the basic principle that only American citizens vote in American elections. For now, Virginia’s fate rests in the hands of the Supreme Court, which has been asked to issue an emergency ruling that will either reinstate Youngkin’s voter integrity measures or uphold the lower court’s decision to reverse the purge.

The urgency of this case underscores the heightened tensions around election integrity in the 2024 election. With the Supreme Court now in play, the question is whether commonsense voter protections will be upheld or overridden by federal mandates that many argue favor administrative convenience over transparency and accuracy.

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