The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Virginia on Friday over an executive order removing illegal migrants off the state’s voter rolls allegedly too close to Election Day.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Executive Order 35, which codifies election security measures including voter list maintenance, on Aug. 7. The lawsuit alleged the Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals violated the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which says states may not clean up voters rolls 90 days before an election.
Youngkin’s order was issued exactly 90 days before Nov. 5. The DOJ alleges the NVRA violation is found in the order’s requirement for the election commissioner to regularly update the state’s voter lists to remove individuals who have been “identified as noncitizens” and have not responded to requests to verify their citizenship in 14 days.
Youngkin hit back at the Biden-Harris administration and the DOJ for what he labeled an attack on American elections.
“Virginians – and Americans – will see this for exactly what it is; a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy,” the Virginia Governor concluded.
The DOJ launched a similar lawsuit against Alabama over the removal of illegal migrants from voter rolls on Sept. 28.