RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — With Election Day just around the corner, the Commonwealth is in hot water after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it is suing the state for illegally striking voters off of voter lists.
Federal law says that states can’t systematically remove ineligible voters 90 days before elections due to the ‘Quiet Period Provision.’
In the lawsuit, the DOJ said the Commonwealth broke this law by making cuts too close to Election Day.
In August, Governor Glenn Youngkin said ineligible voters should be removed from lists daily.
“Why didn’t they file this lawsuit back in August? Why are they waiting until now,” said Virginia Republican Senator Glen Sturtevant.
Sturtevant said that the Department of Elections used data from the DMV and removed people who were unable to prove they are U.S. citizens.
People could potentially go into the DMV and declare themselves a non-citizen, but then try to register to vote — that’s when the Department of Elections sends a notice saying they have 14 days to prove they are eligible.
“We have done a lot of, I think, responsible and smart things in Virginia to try to clean up our voter rolls,” Sturtevant said.
He said the lawsuit is a reflection on the DOJ’s priorities.
“I think it’d be a lot better use of their time and money and taxpayer dollars to focus on states that aren’t cleaning up their voter rolls,” he said.
But the DOJ said the data from the DMV could be outdated, and there’s a chance eligible voters could get taken off voter lists too close to Election Day — like people who filled out paperwork incorrectly or became naturalized later.
“It’s horrifying to think that, you know, you have people here, American citizens who are registered to vote and, go to vote and next thing you know they have been removed,” Virginia Democratic Senator Aaron Rouse said.
Governor Younkgin said they have removed over 6,300 non-citizens throughout the past 18 months. Senator Rouse said he has reached out to the Department of Elections but hasn’t received evidence of non-citizens voting.
“I have yet to see a non-citizen try to vote,” he said. “I would like to see any evidence of that.”
He said there’s voter maintenance processes already in place to ensure non-citizens don’t vote or register to vote, so there’s no reason to still be taking people off voter lists systematically.
“Why would you wait for 90 days before an election to start doing such a thing,” he said. “One has to question that.”
But Senator Sturtevant said the 90 day quiet period shouldn’t apply here, because there are people who have gone into the DMV in just the past couple months.
“It would be a failure on the part of Virginia to not cross-reference our voting records at that point,” Sturtevant said.
In a statement released by Governor Youngkin Friday, he said,, “Virginia’s election will be secure and fair,” and he “will not stand idly by as this politically motivated action tries to interfere in our elections.”
It’s important to note that in Virginia, you can register to vote on the same day as Election Day.