Federal judge orders Virginia to place non-citizens back on voter rolls

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday ordered the commonwealth to place non-citizens back on its voter rolls.

The judge ruled that removing the registered voters from the rolls violated federal law, WRIC reported.

The Justice Department sued Virginia earlier this month over removing non-citizens from its rolls ahead of the Nov. 5 elections.

The suit was against the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Virginia State Board of Elections, and the Virginia Commissioner of Elections for allegedly violating the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

The NVRA prevents states from using systematic programs to remove ineligible voters from voter rolls within 90 days of a federal election, according to the DOJ.

While Virginia argued that the non-citizens removed from the voter rolls are ineligible to vote, the judge ruled that they were illegally removed too close to the election.

“Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls,” Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “Almost all these individuals had previously presented immigration documents confirming their noncitizen status, a fact recently verified by federal authorities.”

"Virginia will immediately petition the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court, for an emergency stay of the injunction," he added.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) posted on X a statement saying that he will appeal the decision.

"It should never be illegal to remove an illegal voter. Yet, today a Court – urged by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice – ordered Virginia to put the names of non-citizens back on the voter rolls, mere days before a presidential election," Miyares said. "The Department of Justice pulled this shameful, politically motivated stunt 25 days before Election Day, challenging a Virginia process signed into law 18 years ago by a Democrat governor and approved by the Department of Justice in 2006.

"More concerning is the open practice by the Biden-Harris administration to weaponize the legal system against the enemies of so-called progress. That is the definition of lawfare. To openly choose weaponization over good process and lawfare over integrity isn’t democracy: it’s bullying, pure and simple, and I always stand up to bullies. In the meantime, I encourage every Virginian to exercise their right to vote. Rest assured, I will never stop fighting to preserve the integrity of our election process. The Commonwealth of Virginia will appeal this decision – all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary."