Virginia asks Supreme Court to allow voter purge despite lower court block
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Supreme Court in October. Photo: Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images
Virginia wants the Supreme Court to let them continue automatically purging the state's voter rolls after lower courts temporarily blocked the program.
Why it matters: It's a fast-moving case that could rope in the highest court in the land to weigh in on voting issues eight days before Election Day.
Driving the news: Virginia is seeking an emergency motion to block a lower court's order, claiming that it is asking the state to allow "over 1,600 self-identified noncitizens" to vote, according to court filings on Monday.
- The application from Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) asks U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts to grant the stay by Tuesday, the day before a federal judge ordered the Commonwealth to comply with halting the voter purge.
Catch up quick: On Friday, a federal judge ruled that Virginia purged 1,600 people from the state's rolls too close to Election Day and said those voters must be added back to the registration list.
- U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles said the state lacked proof that they were purging only non-citizens.
- Christine Rabassa, a Henrico resident and lifelong citizen, was among those removed from the voter rolls after Youngkin's order, per sworn statements reported by The Times-Dispatch. Rabassa found out when she tried to vote.
- Miyares appealed Giles' order and was blocked by a Richmond-based federal appeals court in a rare weekend decision on Sunday.
Flashback: This ruling comes after the Justice Department sued Virginia this month, alleging that Virginia violated a federal law by canceling voter registrations within 90 days of a presidential election.
- Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order in August requiring daily, instead of monthly, updates to state voter lists to remove ineligible voters.
Between the lines: Election officials have told The Washington Post that most of the 6,303 names purged from Virginia's voter rolls during Youngkin's term stemmed from paperwork errors at the DMV.
- That could look like people simply forgetting to check off the citizenship box, not necessarily being a non-citizen.
Go deeper: