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SCOTUS allows Virginia to resume voter registration purges

SCOTUS allows Virginia to resume voter registration purges

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority allowed Virginia to resume hearing Wednesday deletion of voter registrations what the state says it is aimed at prevent people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.

The Supreme Court has granted an emergency appeal by the Republican government of Virginia led by Governor Glenn Youngkin, due to the dissenting opinions of the three liberal justices. The court did not provide a rationale for its action, which is typical for urgent appeals.

The justices acted on Virginia’s appeal after a federal judge found that the state had illegally deleted more than 1,600 voter registrations over the past two months. A federal appeals court had previously allowed the judge’s order to remain in effect.

Such votes are rare in American electionsbut the specter of immigrants voting illegally has been a major part of the political messages this year from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Trump had criticized the earlier statement, calling it “a totally unacceptable travesty” on social media. “Only American citizens may vote,” Trump wrote.

Youngkin said voters who believe they were wrongly removed from the rolls can still vote in the election because Virginia registered on the same day.

“And so there is the ultimate, ultimate guarantee in Virginia: No one is excluded from voting, and that is why I encourage every citizen to vote,” Youngkin told reporters.

That option was also noted by the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the White House.

“Every eligible voter has the right to cast their vote and have their vote counted, and this ruling does not change that,” campaign spokesman Charles Lutvak said in a statement. “Our campaign will ensure that every eligible voter can vote. Noncitizen voting remains illegal under federal law.”

The Justice Department and a coalition of private groups previously sued the state in October, alleging that Virginia election officials, acting under an order issued in August by Youngkin, were striking out names from voter rolls in violation of federal electoral law.

The National Voter Registration Act requires one ‘Quiet period’ of ninety days before the elections for maintaining the electoral rolls so that legitimate voters are not removed from the electoral rolls due to bureaucratic errors or last-minute errors that cannot be quickly corrected.

Youngkin issued his order on August 7, the 90th day before the November 5 election. It required daily checks of state Department of Motor Vehicles data against voter rolls to identify people who are not U.S. citizens.