The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Virginia is entitled to remove noncitizen aliens from its voter rolls, siding with the commonwealth over lower courts less than a week out from the election.
The order comes two days after Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares filed an emergency application, requesting that the Court stay an injunction that ordered Virginia to restore some 1,600 suspected noncitizens who are ineligible to vote to the state’s voter rolls. A federal appeals court upheld the injunction on Sunday, quickly prompting the attorney general to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Court released the one-page order Wednesday morning, noting that liberal-leaning Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied Virginia’s emergency request for an appeal.
The Department of Justice sued Virginia earlier this month, targeting an executive order signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin that formalized a program to remove noncitizens from the state’s voter-registration lists. On Friday, a Biden-appointed federal judge took issue with Virginia’s purging of aliens from the voter rolls because the action came too close to the November election and therefore violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
The federal law includes a so-called “quiet period” provision that prevents states from removing voters less than 90 days before an election. Youngkin issued the order exactly 90 days before Election Day. The provision is meant to prevent last-minute mistakes.
Miyares and Youngkin, both Republicans, said they are “pleased” with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“This is a victory for commonsense and election fairness,” Youngkin said in a statement. “I am grateful for the work of Attorney General Jason Miyares on this critical fight to protect the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens. Clean voter rolls are one important part of a comprehensive approach we are taking to ensure the fairness of our elections.”
“Virginians also know that we have paper ballots, counting machines not connected to the internet, a strong chain of custody process, signature verification, monitored and secured drop boxes, and a ‘triple check’ vote counting process to tabulate results,” the governor added. “Virginians can cast their ballots on Election Day knowing that Virginia’s elections are fair, secure, and free from politically-motivated interference.”
The Republican Party has made election integrity a priority this election cycle after former president Donald Trump has raised concerns of voter fraud and illegal immigrants voting. The GOP nominee revived the “Stop the Steal” slogan earlier this year. In 2020, Trump claimed Democrats stole that year’s presidential election from him.
The Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Virginia filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, supporting the commonwealth’s efforts to combat election interference.
The legal filing notes Virginia permits same-day voter registration, meaning any resident who was accidentally removed from the voter rolls can register at a poll site on Election Day and cast a provisional ballot. If that person’s citizenship is verified, then the ballot would be counted. The Virginia GOP ensured no legal voters will be disenfranchised as a result of its voter-purge program.
“With only one week to our country’s most important election, Democrats are now taking extraordinary measures to keep non-citizens on voter rolls,” said RNC chairman Michael Whatley, who was endorsed by Trump to lead the RNC. The former president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was selected as co-chair.
“Kamala’s Administration sued Virginia and is now arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that non-citizens must remain on the voter rolls,” Whatley added prior to Wednesday’s ruling. “We are supporting Governor Youngkin’s efforts in the Supreme Court and fighting for only Americans to determine the future of our country.”
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