DOJ once OK’d legislation at center of Youngkin voter-culling order feeds now must be blocked

The Justice Department that once greenlighted the very election reform law is now suing Virginia, a move aimed at removing non-voters from the Commonwealth’s voter rolls, Fox News Digital has learned.

The DOJ filed the lawsuit on October 11 in federal court in Alexandria, alleging the state, its board of elections and Elections Commissioner Susan Beals violated federal law by carrying out the order of Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The order directed municipal and/or state officials to withdraw the names of persons who “cannot be verified as citizens” from the Department of Motor Vehicles for voter registration purposes.

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Youngkin told Fox News Digital that the order he issued in August simply followed a law put in place in 2006 by Gov. Democrat Tim Kaine at the time and was accepted by the DOJ. But since the November election is just a few weeks away, the organization says it is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act, which states that any retention of the voter list must be completed before the nineteen-day window before the election.

“[W]Now I know that the Virginia law has been reviewed and clearly approved by the DOJ’s civil rights division,” said Youngkin. “Now, after being requested for 18 years by Democratic and Republican governors, 25 days before the presidential election, Biden. -Harris DOJ sues Virginia: Ensuring Virginia’s voter rolls exclude non-citizens is legal, Virginia law and common sense.”

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Youngkin’s order cited Virginia code 24.2-439, which requires state registrars to cancel non-citizen voter registrations deemed to have been sought under false pretenses. It also cited Virginia Code 24.2-1019, requiring registrants to immediately notify their county or city prosecutor of such situations.

At least 165 election-related lawsuits have been filed across the country, most of which focus on issues such as who should be eligible to vote, how votes are cast and counted, and how. ensure election security and protection against voter fraud. Legal analysts say they doubt any of the cases will have a long-term impact on the 2024 election and describe the type of claims as standard fare, especially in the more than two decades since then. George W. Bush failed Al Gore and the mountain of legal challenges to win the 2020 presidential election.

The DOJ alleged in its lawsuit that the actions resulting from the August order violated the 90-day window. However, Virginia officials maintained their actions were based on self-reported eligibility differences and were not the type of systematic voter purge that would violate the Peace Era provision.

An internal Richmond memo obtained by Fox News Digital asserts that an established process to remove unregistered voters has occurred under both Democratic and Republican governors since Kaine, now a senator, signed the law in 2006.

The Federal Quiet Period cited by the DOJ is “inconsistent” with Commonwealth policy, the memo said, adding that people also have a two-week window to verify citizenship before being delisted, so revocations are not automatic.

If someone believes they have been wrongly removed from the rolls, Virginia has long offered voter registration on the same day of the election.

In official Kaine-era documents obtained by Fox News Digital, an official in the Virginia attorney general’s office wrote to George W. Bush’s Justice Department requesting approval of the new law.

Two months later, in December 2006, the head of the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section responded that the US attorney general “does not raise any objections to certain changes,” though he added that the feds’ lack of objections did not. future instructions against law enforcement.

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The process of removing an ineligible voter defined by law begins only when a person filing a driver’s license or other government document proves that they are not a citizen.

From there, the Department of Motor Vehicles shares that information with the county Department of Elections, such as information with the county or city registrar.

The person is then told they are ineligible and given 14 days to prove their citizenship. If they don’t do that, they are informed that they will be removed and they are eventually removed, said the source.

Virginia has reportedly removed more than 6,300 people from the voter rolls since the order was signed.

In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, Youngkin called the legislative action “unprecedented” and said he was simply making sure the law signed in 2006 by Kaine, who is running for re-election to the US Senate this year, is followed by states and private individuals. cities.

In a statement following the DOJ filing, Youngkin strongly defended his order.

“The American people will see this for what it is – a serious attempt to attack the legitimacy of elections in the Commonwealth, which is the very reason for American democracy,” he said. “I will not remain silent and do nothing as this politically motivated act is trying to interfere in our elections.”

However, at the DOJ, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke said withdrawing voter registration as Election Day approaches could put eligible voters “at risk of being deregistered and creating a risk of voter confusion.”

“Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act’s Quiet Period to prevent eleventh-hour efforts that often disqualify registered voters,” Clarke said in a statement.

As a result of Youngkin’s order, more than 1,000 registrations at two major Washington, DC-area sites have been canceled, according to local reports.

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US Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday. The DOJ is preparing charges against Iran for its efforts to influence the 2024 election cycle. (Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Loudoun County, an area that used to be red and is now blue because of the population increase in the state capital, named 98. East on US-50, the heavily-Democratic Fairfax County has removed 985 and is referring it to the local prosecutor and Attorney General Jason Miyares to investigate any possible violations, according to the local ABC affiliate.

In July, Kaine reiterated that voting is a right reserved for US citizens.

Last week, a spokeswoman for the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee said “as we want to prevent non-citizens from voting, we need to keep eligible voters from being removed from the voting rolls, especially just weeks before the election.”

“Senator Kaine is focused on making sure every eligible Virginian has the opportunity to vote in this critical election.”

Meanwhile, former President Trump dismissed the case as evidence that the DOJ is “weaponized” and praised Youngkin’s “important work” in protecting the authenticity of voter numbers.