Virginia voter purge is blocked by a federal judge: NPR

A federal judge ruled Friday that a voter removal program in Virginia illegally removed registered voters from the state's voter rolls too close to the fall election.

President Biden's nominee, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, has ordered the state to put removed voters back on the state's registration list, according to statements from the program's challengers and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“Virginia will immediately petition the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the injunction,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

Eligible voters in Virginia still have time to register to vote in the fall. In-person voter registration will continue at polling locations through Election Day.

The ruling marks the second time this month that a federal court has temporarily blocked a Republican-led state's voter purge efforts for violating the National Voter Registration Act.

Federal law passed in 1993 prohibits Virginia and most other states from systematically removing registered voters from office within 90 days of a federal election. This “quiet period,” which began in August for this fall's elections, is intended to give voters enough time to sort out any issues before they are removed from the lists and unable to vote in an upcoming election.

In August, Youngkin issued an executive order requiring “daily updates” to the state's voter rolls to send people who could not prove they are U.S. citizens to the state's Department of Motor Vehicles.

The Justice Department and immigrant advocacy groups argued in court that this voter removal program was conducted during the 90-day quiet period and relied on DMV data, which may be incorrect or outdated, to determine people's U.S. citizenship status.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has claimed on his social media platform that the DOJ's lawsuit against Virginia was filed to help Democrats “cheat” in the upcoming election. There is no evidence for this claim.

Documents the court ordered the state to release show that Virginia's program purged more than 1,600 registered voters from its voter rolls during the quiet period, said Ryan Snow, an attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law who represents the challenging groups Virginia said Wednesday during a call with reporters.

Last week, a federal judge blocked a similar program by Republican Secretary of State Wes Allen of Alabama. Trump nominee U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco ruled that Allen “beat the deadline” of the National Voter Registration Act when he announced a voter purge program 84 days before the final day of the election.

Edited by Benjamin Swasey