Federal judge halts Virginia’s pre-election voter roll purge aimed at suspected noncitizens
CNN
A federal judge on Friday halted a Virginia program that purged the state’s voter rolls based on indications that a person might be a noncitizen and ordered officials to restore the registrations of roughly 1,600 people who had been removed under the process.
A federal judge on Friday halted a Virginia program that purged the state’s voter rolls based on indications that a person might be a noncitizen and ordered officials to restore the registrations of roughly 1,600 people who had been removed under the process. US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles sided with the Biden administration and the private groups that brought the legal challenge, finding that Virginia’s program violated a federal law that forbids systematic removals from the voter rolls 90 days before a federal election. “When it is within the 90-day period, it must be done on individualized basis,” she said Friday, adding that that Virginia’s approach “left no room for individualized inquiry.” The challengers put forward evidence that citizens were being wrongly removed from the rolls under Virginia’s systems. Giles noted that issue as she handed down her ruling. The ruling comes on the heels of a Justice Department victory in a similar case brought against Alabama for a purge program it was running within the 90-day window. When Giles announced her ruling from the bench Friday, lawyers for the state asked her to pause while they appeal, raising the concern there could be potential noncitizens who are restored to the rolls. The judge rejected that argument: “I am not dealing with belief. I am dealing with evidence.”
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