Supreme Court clears way for Virginia to remove 1,600 alleged noncitizens from voter rolls

SUMMARY

The Supreme Court has allowed Virginia to continue removing approximately 1,600 alleged noncitizens from its voter rolls just before the 2024 election. This decision overrides a lower court's injunction, which argued that Virginia's systematic voter purging, initiated 90 days before Election Day, likely violates the National Voter Registration Act's (NVRA) “Quiet Period Provision.” This provision prevents voter roll changes within 90 days of a federal election to avoid mistakenly disenfranchising eligible voters. The Justice Department contended that Virginia’s program could erroneously remove eligible voters. Virginia, however, argued the program only targeted noncitizens, notifying individuals of their removal and allowing 14 days for citizenship verification. The case, prompted by a Justice Department lawsuit, challenged Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order, which increased data-sharing frequency for voter eligibility checks.