The Justice Department is suing Virginia over its efforts to purge voter rolls within 90 days of an election, accusing the state of violating federal voting laws. This comes after Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order requiring daily updates to the voting list, identifying “noncitizens” and potentially canceling voter registrations if citizenship is not affirmed. The DOJ claims that some U.S. citizens were mistakenly identified as noncitizens, resulting in unnecessary cancellations. Youngkin called the lawsuit politically motivated, while former President Trump praised him and criticized the DOJ and Vice President Harris for supposedly undermining democracy. This is the second DOJ lawsuit in a month against a state for alleged violations related to voter roll purges close to an election. Virginia, a historically Democratic state, is facing challenges in its Senate race and has been sued by immigrant rights organizations for the allegedly discriminatory voter purge process. The DOJ lawsuit has been praised by these groups for challenging Virginia’s citizenship purge program, which they claim has disenfranchised eligible voters on the eve of an election. This legal battle is ongoing, with the state’s Department of Elections declining to comment on the pending litigation.
Photo credit
www.nbcnews.com