[The Epoch Times, October 29, 2024](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Qiusheng) Virginia asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene on Monday (October 28) to allow the state to delete about 1,600 people it considers non-citizens from the electoral rolls. of voters.
The request comes after a federal appeals court on Sunday unanimously upheld a federal judge’s order reinstating the registrations of the 1,600 voters who the judge said were illegally purged under an executive order from the state’s Republican governor. .
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he ordered daily purges of voter rolls to prevent noncitizens from voting, but U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Giles ruled over the weekend that Young would be exempted from voting under federal law. King’s purge plan is illegal because it systematically purges voters during a 90-day “quiet period” before the November election.
The Justice Department and a coalition of private groups filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking to block Youngkin’s sweep. They argue that the purpose of establishing a silent period is to ensure that legitimate voters are not removed from the rolls due to bureaucratic errors or last-minute mistakes that cannot be corrected in time.
Youngkin said he was simply complying with Virginia law requiring the cancellation of non-citizen registrations.
Three judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Sunday in favor of District Judge Giles’ request that Virginia reinstate noncitizen registration.
The appeals court said Virginia was wrong to say it was forced to reinstate 1,600 non-citizen voters. The appeals court judge held that Virginia did not prove that the disqualified person was actually a noncitizen in its process of disqualifying voters.
An executive order issued by Yangkin in August requires daily comparisons of voter rolls and Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) data to identify non-citizens.
Any voter identified as a noncitizen will be notified and given two weeks to file an objection before being removed, state officials said. If they submit a form proving their citizenship, they will not be deregistered.
Plaintiffs say that because of the state’s plan, legal voters and citizens could have their registrations canceled simply because they checked the wrong box on a DMV form. The plaintiffs presented evidence that at least some of those disqualified were actually citizens.
Similar lawsuits have occurred in Alabama. Last week, a local federal judge ordered the state to reinstate the eligibility of more than 3,200 voters considered non-citizens to vote. Testimony from state officials showed that about 2,000 of the 3,251 disqualified voters were actually legally registered citizens.
Virginia’s Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, asking the court to intervene by Tuesday. Without any intervention, the injunction Giles issued last week requires Virginia to notify affected voters and local registrars by Wednesday to resume voter registration under her order.
Miyares’ appeal argued that requiring Virginia to restore the voter registrations of those identified as noncitizens “is contrary to Virginia law and common sense.”
The VA also argued that requiring the VA to make these changes less than a week before the presidential election would certainly cause confusion, “create a significant amount of work for registrars during the critical week before the election, and potentially mislead non-citizens into thinking they are eligible to vote.”
The 4th Circuit opinion was written by Judge Toby Heytens, a Biden appointee, and joined by Chief Judge Albert Diaz and Judge Stephanie Thacker. Obama appointed, also involved.
The panel stressed that, as Giles did in his original ruling, the state has the power to remove noncitizens from the rolls even during a 90-day silent period, but it must do so in an individualized process rather than relying on Systematic process for DMV data transfer.
Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.
(This article refers to the Associated Press report)
Editor in charge: Ye Ziwei#
