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Voting Rights Advocates Call on Virginia to Reinstate Purged Voters Ahead of Election Day

A recording of the press conference can be found here using the password %8Cw&6Tj

Alexandria, Virginia—Tomorrow, there will be a hearing in the lawsuit brought by the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the League of Women Voters Virginia, and African Communities Together against the Youngkin Administration for illegally purging voters. In advance of the hearing, voting rights advocates hosted a press conference calling on the courts to promptly restore the voter registrations of those voters who have been purged from the voting rolls so that they can make their voices heard in our elections.

“So far, within the 90 days, we have identified 15 of our members with a history of voting who have been purged from the voter rolls and had their access to the ballot box blocked,” Gigi Traore, Civic Engagement Director at African Communities Together, said. “We stand together with the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the League of Women Voters Virginia to reclaim the right to the ballot box. We are demanding that the dream we have fought for be returned to us as full and rightful citizens.” 

“All over the country, people who want to create confusion and sew the seeds of doubt in the integrity of our election system are hiding behind false fears and overhyped claims about voter fraud in order to do what they say they are opposing: they are taking the vote away from U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote,” Mohamed Gula, VACIR Board Chair and EMGAGE Virginia State Director, said. “Those of us on this call today are uniting together to say enough. Enough of the fear-mongering against migrants. Enough of the rhetoric that is undermining our democracy. Enough of the distractions from critical issues facing our communities, both immigrant and native, citizens and non-citizens in the Commonwealth, and enough of leaders ignoring the real issues facing Virginians. We can and must come together and ensure that the public knows that our elections are free and fair and that we do not need to take steps to take the vote away from citizens in order to fix something that is not broken.”

“The purge process is a violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which was a bipartisan bill intended to prevent the erroneous, wrongful removal of eligible voters during the 90-day period before an election. Congress recognized that these types of purge programs are likely to remove some eligible voters and doing that this close to an election will make it that much harder for these voters to cast a ballot and have their lawful vote counted,” Ryan Snow, Counsel at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said. “We have learned that over 1600 voters have been removed from the rolls, and 75 voter registration applications have been denied within the 90-day window because of this purge program. A large portion of these voters are eligible. This is a deliberate and unlawful purge on the eve of an election. These voters and community members have been intimidated by receiving removal notices. The threat of investigation and criminal prosecution is extremely intimidating for lawful voters who have fought for the right to vote, have dreamed and achieved their goal of becoming a US citizen and are now part of our communities and want to participate in the civic proces.”

“The important question to ask is why? Why are politicians trying to deceive the American people when we know that our elections are safe and secure and only eligible voters are participating,” Anna Dorman, Counsel at Protect Democracy, asked. “This campaign of lies is drawn straight from the pretty traditional authoritarian playbook used to disrupt and ultimately deny election results that they don’t like. The authoritarian movement in our country has repeatedly telegraphed that the plan is to use these lies as a pretext to suggest that the election results are not trustworthy, allowing the movement to undermine and challenge the results of our election in November.”

Background: 

The lawsuit calls on the court to do the following:

  • Declare the Purge Program violates the National Voting Rights Act of 1993
  • Order Defendants to stop the Purge Program
  • Order Defendants to instruct local officials to reinstate to the voter rolls anyone removed through the Purge Program, except those who confirmed they are not a citizen, and ensure they can cast a regular ballot 
  • Order Defendants to notify affected voters that they remain registered and can cast a regular ballot if they are eligible.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its own lawsuit on October 11, alleging Virginia’s Purge Program is systematically removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election.

Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights and League of Women Voters Sue Youngkin Administration Over Voter Purges

Alexandria, Virginia—The Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR) and the League of Women Voters Virginia have filed a lawsuit against the Youngkin Administration for purging voters illegally. They are calling on the courts to restore the voter registrations of those who have been purged from the voting rolls so that they can legally make their voices heard in our elections. 

 

“Naturalized citizens serve in our armed forces, pay taxes, and show their patriotism daily with their acts and contributions to our society. This attack against the voting rights of naturalized citizens is a vicious attack against our democracy,” Monica Sarmiento, Executive Director of the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, said. “Forcing new American communities to to carry undue burden that no other community is required to comply with is discrimination, and does not stand for the values that our Commonwealth and country stands for. We demand the immediate dissolution of Executive Order 35, and for Governor Youngkin to stand in support and comply with the 1993 National Voting Rights Act.”

 

Newly Filed Lawsuit Accuses Youngkin of Removing Voters from Rolls with Executive Order

WSET, Robert Locklear 

 

On October 7,the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the League of Women Voters of Virginia filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging ” the state’s policy of illegally and systematically removing voters from the rolls.” 

“Virginia driver’s licenses are available to non-citizens and can remain valid for up to eight years, meaning people who obtained driver’s licenses as non-citizens, subsequently became US citizens, and lawfully registered to vote are being unlawfully purged from the voter rolls based on outdated DMV information,” the statement says.

“We are proud to stand up for voters today against the Governor’s illegal purging of registered voters based on flawed and outdated information,” said Joan Porte, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia. “Instead of making our elections safer, power-hungry elected officials are sowing fear and distrust in our election. Virginians need to know that the League will ensure that all eligible voters can have their voice heard at the ballot box.”

Lawsuit Says Virginia is Illegally Purging Legitimate Voters Off the Rolls NBC Washington Matthew Barakat 

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, argues that an executive order issued in August by Youngkin requiring daily updates to voter lists to remove ineligible voters violates a federal law that requires a 90-day “quiet period” ahead of elections on the maintenance of voter rolls.The quiet period exists to prevent erroneous removals, the lawsuit states.

“Defendants’ Purge Program is far from … a well-designed, well-intended list maintenance effort. It is an illegal, discriminatory, and error-ridden program that has directed the cancelation of voter registrations of naturalized U.S. citizens and jeopardizes the rights of countless others,” the lawsuit states.

Immigrant citizens are at particular risk, the lawsuit states, because individuals can obtain a driver’s license as lawful permanent residents, refugees or asylum applicants, and then later become naturalized citizens. But the data from the Department of Motor Vehicles will still list that individual as a noncitizen.

It’s not clear how many voters have been removed as a result of the executive order. The lawsuit alleges that the Virginia Department of Elections has refused to provide data about its efforts. Youngkin’s executive order states that Virginia removed 6,303 voters from the rolls between January 2022 and July 2023 over citizenship questions.

According to the minutes, the elections office received data about 66 voters who were deemed likely noncitizens. The data came from both the state elections office and from an “Election Integrity Task Force” affiliated with the Fairfax County Republican Committee. The county registrar said that the elections office sent notices to all 66, and gave them 14 days to verify their citizenship and eligibility. Of those, 17 responded and were kept on the rolls. The other 49 were removed, and had their names forwarded to the commonwealth’s attorney and the Virginia attorney general’s office for potential prosecution.

The lawsuit says the Fairfax removals, as well as other local actions, show that legitimate voters are being improperly removed if they don’t respond within the 14-day window provided to them.

Orion Danjuma, a lawyer with The Protect Democracy Project, one of the legal groups that filed the lawsuit on the plaintiffs’ behalf, said what’s occurring in Virginia is part of a national effort by supporters of former President Donald Trump to sow doubts about election integrity and delegitimize the results if Trump loses in November.

The lawsuit asks a judge to bar the state from removing voters under what it describes as the state’s “purge program,” and restoration to the voter rolls of those who have been removed as a result of it.