Virginia court bans voter deletion from the electoral rolls before elections

A federal court ruling Friday blocked the removal from Virginia’s voter rolls of people who have not proven their citizenship, on the grounds that federal law prohibits excluding large numbers of voters in the 90 days before an election.

Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered the state to restore the voting rights of the people who were disqualified less than two weeks before the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order on August 7 requiring the commissioner of the local Department of Elections to certify that his agency was conducting “daily updates of the voter rolls” to cross off those who, among other things, could not attest to being U.S. citizens.

Citizens who were notified and did not confirm their citizenship within 14 days would be removed from the list of registered voters, according to the Justice Department appeal that challenged the legality of that decision by Youngkin.

Donald Trump and his allies claim, that a large numbers of people who are not U.S. citizens will vote in this election, which is illegal. In the past, state and private investigations have found instances where this has happened.

Judge Giles ruled, however, that the executive order was a “clear violation” of the provision that prohibits voter registration 90 days before an election, according to the Washington Post.

“It is no coincidence that this executive order was announced on the 90th day,” Youngkin stated, adding that the state will appeal and, if necessary, take the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

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