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DOJ targets Virginia's efforts to purge noncitizens from voter rolls

DOJ targets Virginia's efforts to purge noncitizens from voter rolls


DOJ targets Virginia's efforts to purge noncitizens from voter rolls

The Department of Justice is suing the state of Virginia and Gov. Glenn Youngkin because the state was purging noncitizens from their voter registration rolls.

For almost 20 years Virginia has been combing through the state’s voter rolls to get rid of any noncitizens who mistakenly or purposefully got their names added. Abraham Hamilton III, general counsel for American Family Association (AFA), told American Family Radio that Virginia law mandates the purge.

“This has been a part of the state of Virginia's policy since 2006. It's state law, it's state procedure, and even some of the policies implemented by Gov. Youngkin during his administration, this has been their policy for all of this time.”

The complaint says Virginia officials are in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which mandates that states must complete their maintenance program no later than 90 days before an election under a clause known as the Quiet Period Provision, according to Fox News.

The DOJ specifically targets Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, saying he violated the NVRA when announcing and subsequently carrying out an executive order which required the election commissioner to regularly update the state’s voter lists to remove individuals who have been "identified as noncitizens," and had not responded to a request to verify their citizenship in 14 days. 

More than 6,000 noncitizens removed

Under Youngkin's executive order, Virginia has removed 6,303 individuals.

Hamilton, Abraham (AFA attorney) Hamilton

Hamilton says everyone culled from the rolls has already admitted they are not eligible to vote.

“Through different processes like driver's licenses, DMV records, and other things, they check a box that says I am a noncitizen, or they do not check a citizenship box, which triggers the Virginia policy.”

Hamilton says some states allow noncitizens to vote in state and local races.

“They're going to allow illegal aliens to vote in their state and local elections, which presents the question, well, how are you going to separate that from federal elections when the elections are happening at the exact same time?”

He says there's only one reason the DOJ is working so hard to keep ineligible voters on the rolls.

“I think they are attempting to make it an Election Day issue to try to prevent states like Virginia and others to exclude non-citizens from participating in federal elections.”


Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.