More Than 1,600 Voters Removed in Virginia Under Noncitizen Program

A woman picks out a sticker after voting on the first day of in-person early voting at Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center in Arlington, Virginia, on September 20, 2024. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

More than 1,600 people have been removed from voter rolls in Virginia since August under the state’s program targeting noncitizens, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) and advocacy groups, who are suing the state, contend is illegal.

The scope of the removals was revealed after a federal magistrate, on Oct. 21, ordered the state to disclose the names and addresses of those removed to plaintiff groups, including the DOJ and the League of Women Voters.

Gov. Glen Youngkin (R-Va.) announced the program in August as part of an executive order that codifies election security measures that include creating a “best-in-the-nation voter list maintenance” program. He said that all legal votes should be counted without being “watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines.”

This prompted the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file a lawsuit earlier this month, alleging the program violates a 90-day “quiet period” ahead of the November election as required by the National Voter Registration Act.

“States must complete any program that systematically removes the names of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters no later than 90 days before a Voter Registration List Maintenance primary election or general election for federal office,” according to the DOJ’s website.

The quiet period exists to prevent the accidental disenfranchisement of legitimate voters in the election season by not providing an opportunity to fix errors before the election.

The DOJ has requested an injunction to block the program and restore the registrations of those removed from the rolls. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Alexandria.

The state has objected to an injunction in court filings, saying it would be an unnecessary intrusion into Virginia election procedures.

Youngkin has defended the Aug. 7 executive order, saying that it is based on the precedent of a 2006 state law. That state law directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to update the state Board of Elections monthly with a list of people who failed to prove their citizenship status. The list of noncitizens is forwarded to local registrars. The executive order called for noncitizens to be removed daily using that information.

The governor said that the process is “individualized” and not systematic, in a media interview.

“It starts with a basic premise that when someone walks into one of our DMV’s and self-identifies as a noncitizen, and then they end up on the voter rolls, either purposely or by accident, that we go through a process individualized, not systematic, an individualized process based on that person’s self-identification as a noncitizen, to give them 14 days to affirm they are a citizen and if they don’t, they come off the voter rolls,” Youngkin told Fox News.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares supported this argument in a court filing opposing the plaintiff’s request for the court to order the state and county election officials to “place back on the voter rolls people who were recently removed after identifying themselves as noncitizens in information they provided to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.”

The filing contends that the nature of a person self-reporting as a noncitizen at the DMV is done on an individual basis and therefore does not qualify as systematic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.