Tipsheet

Glenn Youngkin Hit With Lawsuit by Biden-Harris DOJ Over Removing Noncitizens From Voter Rolls

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  October 12, 2024 3:30 PM

The Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) just weeks before the 2024 presidential election for removing non-citizens from his state’s voter rolls. 

According to the complaint, the state Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals claims Youngkin violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by purging voters from the voter roll this close to the November election. The act requires states to complete their maintenance program by 90 days before an election under a clause known as the Quiet Period Provision.

Under the governor’s executive order, Virginia has removed over 6,000 individuals, including those illegally registered to vote. Youngkin’s order ensured that the voter list had “daily” updates. 

“The Executive Order formalized the Program and announced that 6,303 individuals had been removed from the rolls pursuant to the same process between January 2022 and July 2024," the complaint states.

The complaint states that voters were considered non-citizens if they marked "no" to questions about their citizenship status on the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) forms. 

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The Biden-Harris DOJ claimed that the move resulted in the cancellation of Virginia resident’s voter registration. 

“Systematic removal programs are more error-prone than other forms of list maintenance, and eligible voters placed on the path to removal days or weeks before Election Day may be deterred from voting or unable to participate in the election on the same terms that they would have but for the Commonwealth’s error,” the complaint states. 

Youngking accused Democrats of attempting to “Attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth” and “The very crucible of American Democracy.”