The Justice Department previously gave the green light to the very election reform law being sued against Virginia, a measure aimed at removing non-citizens from the federal voter rolls, Fox News Digital has learned.
of The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit. On Oct. 11, in Alexandria federal court, the state, the Board of Elections, and Election Commissioner Susan Beals allege that they violated federal law by implementing Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order. The order directed local and/or state officials to remove the names of people who “cannot prove their citizenship” to the Department of Transportation for voter registration purposes.
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Yonkin told Fox News Digital that the order he issued in August simply followed rules enacted in 2006 by then-Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine and approved by the Justice Department. But with the November election just weeks away, the agency is now violating provisions of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires maintenance of voter rolls to be completed before a 90-day period before an election. claims.
”[W]”We now know that the Virginia law has been reviewed and expressly approved by the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division,” Youngkin said, adding, “It has been in place for 18 years by Democratic and Republican governors, and now we have 25 days until the presidential election. Now, Mr. Biden – Harris Justice Department sues Virginia: It is constitutional, Virginia law, and common sense to exclude noncitizens from Virginia's voter rolls.
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Youngkin's order cited Virginia Statute 24.2-439 requires government registrars to cancel voter registrations of noncitizens deemed to have been solicited under false pretenses. It also cited Virginia Statute 24.2-1019, which requires the registrar to immediately notify the county or city prosecutor of such situations.
At least 165 election-related lawsuits have already been filed across the United States, with the majority focusing on issues such as who should be eligible to vote, how votes are counted and counted, and how they should be cast. ensure election security Protects against suspicions of voter fraud. Legal analysts say it is questionable whether these lawsuits will have a long-term impact on the 2024 election, especially since the nature of the lawsuits has been fairly standard in the more than 20 years since the lawsuits. are. George W. Bush dodged Al Gore and the mountain of legal challenges to winning the 2020 presidential election.
The Justice Department argued in its lawsuit that its actions under the August order violate the federal government's 90-day grace period. But Virginia officials maintain that their actions targeted self-reported eligibility discrepancies and not systematic deletion of voter rolls in violation of quiet period rules.
An internal Richmond memo obtained by Fox News Digital shows that the established process for removing noncitizens from voter rolls has been followed by Democratic and Republican governors since Kaine, now a senator, signed the law in 2006. He claimed that it had been carried out under the
The federal quiet period cited by the Justice Department is “irrelevant” to federal policy, the memo said, as individuals also have a two-week grace period to verify their citizenship before being removed from the rolls. He added that he would not be automatically disqualified.
Virginia has long offered same-day voter registration at polling places to people who believe they were mistakenly left off the rolls.
Official Kaine-era communications obtained by Fox News Digital show officials from the Virginia attorney general's office sending a letter to George W. Bush's Justice Department requesting approval of the new law.
Two months later, in December 2006, officials from the Office of Civil Rights' Ballot Section added that the federal government was not precluded from objecting, but that the U.S. Attorney General's Office did not “certify any objections to certain changes.'' I won't pinch you,” he replied. Future Injunctions against Law Enforcement.
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Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, Democrat of Virginia (Greg Nash Pool/Getty Images)
The process of removing ineligible voters, as provided by law, begins only if a person applying for a driver's license or other government document proves that he or she is a non-citizen.
From there, the Department of Transportation shares that information with the state Elections Department, which matches it with county or independent city registrars.
The individual is then notified of their ineligibility and given 14 days to prove their citizenship. If not, they will be notified and will eventually be removed, officials said.
Virginia has reportedly removed more than 6,300 people from its voter rolls since the order was signed.
In a statement after the suit was filed, Yonkin said the lawsuit is “unprecedented” and that the law signed in 2006 by Kaine, who is running for re-election to the Senate this year, has been complied with by counties and independents. He said he only assured him that it would be done. City.
In a statement after the Justice Department filed the lawsuit, Youngkin staunchly defended his order.
“Americans will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of elections in the very crucible of American democracy, the Commonwealth,” he said. “I will not stand idly by as this politically motivated action attempts to interfere in our elections.”
But at the Justice Department, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark of the Civil Rights Division said this voter registration cull so close to Election Day puts eligible voters “at risk of being removed from the rolls and poses a risk of voter confusion.” ” may occur.
“Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act's quiet period limitations to prevent an error-filled 11th-hour effort to disenfranchise eligible voters,” Clark said in a statement.
More than 1,000 registrations were canceled in two major counties in the Washington, D.C., area as a result of Yonkin's order, according to local reports.
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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland will speak at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC, on Thursday. The Justice Department is preparing charges over Iran's efforts to influence the 2024 election cycle. (Photographer: Ting Sheng/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Once a red fortress, Loudoun County is now blue due to sprawl from the capital to the suburbs, and 98 names have been culled. Fairfax County, a heavily Democratic county to the east along Route 50, removed 985 people and sent them to local prosecutors and Attorney General Jason Miyares for investigation. Potential violation of lawAccording to local ABC affiliate station.
Kaine reiterated in July that voting is a right reserved to American citizens.
Last week, a spokesperson for the 2016 Democratic vice presidential candidate said, “Just as we want to prevent non-citizens from voting, we need to ensure that voters are not removed from the voting rolls, especially in the weeks after an election.” said.
“Senator Kaine is focused on ensuring every eligible Virginian has the opportunity to vote in this important election.”
Former President Trump, on the other hand, slammed the lawsuit as evidence of the “weaponization” of the Justice Department and praised Yonkin's “important work” to protect the veracity of voter rolls.
