Virginia unlawfully removes voters before election, DOJ says: What we know

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has accused Virginia of violating federal law by attempting to purge voters from the voter rolls just before this year’s presidential election.

The DOJ filed a lawsuit on Friday against the state of Virginia, the Virginia State Board of Elections and the Virginia Commissioner of Elections alleging that the state deregistered voters who were “identified as non-citizens” following an order from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin were identified”. .

According to the DOJ, Virginia violated a “quiet period” provision in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires states not to remove voters from the voter rolls within 90 days before an election, regardless of the reason.

Virginia officials are accused of mailing “Affirmation of Citizenship” forms to voters who are “actually U.S. citizens and eligible to vote” and requiring them to respond within 14 days or cancel their registration, a Process that, according to the DOJ, “resulted in this lawsuit.” The voter registration of U.S. citizens has been canceled.”

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement that “officials across the country should heed the law’s crystal clear and unequivocal limitations on systematic list curation efforts occurring within 90 days of an election.”

“By canceling voter registrations within 90 days of Election Day, Virginia risks removing qualified voters from the voter rolls and creates a risk of confusion for the electorate,” Clarke said.

“Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s grace period restriction to prevent error-prone last-minute efforts that too often disenfranchise qualified voters,” she added.

Youngkin vowed in a statement Friday to defend his “reasonable” order, claiming the DOJ’s lawsuit was “politically motivated” and an attack on the “legitimacy” of the election. The governor made no mention of the National Voter Registration Act or the claim that U.S. citizens were removed from Virginia’s voter rolls.

“The Biden-Harris Department of Justice is filing an unprecedented lawsuit against me and the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Youngkin said. “Virginians – and Americans – will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of elections in the Commonwealth, the true crucible of American democracy.”

“With the support of our attorney general, we will defend these common-sense steps, which we are legally obligated to take, with every means at our disposal,” he added. “Virginia’s election will be safe and fair, and I will not stand idly by as this politically motivated effort attempts to interfere in our elections, period.”

Newsweek reached out to Youngkin’s office via email Friday evening seeking comment.

Former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly spread false claims that large numbers of illegal immigrants voted or planned to vote in presidential elections, expressed outrage at the lawsuit, claiming in a post on Truth Social on Friday that it was a “fraud.” act.

Trump praised Youngkin for “doing an incredible job” trying to deregister voters while claiming without evidence that Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent in November, was behind the lawsuit Ministry of Justice stuck.

“Kamala Harris and the Justice Department have once again launched an unconstitutional and illegal attack on American democracy,” Trump wrote. “This time, Kamala Harris, who is losing in the polls, is trying to flood our elections with NON-CITIZENS – these votes are ILLEGAL!”

“Now, because we are doing so well in Virginia, Kamala wants to put these non-citizens back on the voter rolls even though they are not allowed to vote. The only reason for this is FRAUD,” he added. “This is un-American and, with less than 30 days until the election, clear election interference.”

An average of recent polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight showed Harris leading Trump by 7.5 percentage points in Virginia as of Friday evening, with the two most recent polls showing the vice president ahead by double digits.