A federal judge appointed by President Joe Biden seems poised to put an end to Virginia's election integrity efforts to remove noncitizens and order the state to restore the roughly 1,600 people removed so far back to the rolls, Politico reported Thursday.
District Judge Patricia Giles did not issue a ruling after Thursday's hearing.
Virginia faced lawsuits, including from the Department of Justice, over its decision to clean up the voter rolls of noncitizens. Gov. Glenn Youngkin and state officials moved forward with a duly instituted — and vetted — election integrity law that has been in place for nearly two decades related to the management of voter rolls.
Virginia's code 24.2-439 requires government registrars to cancel noncitizens' voter registrations deemed to have been sought under false pretenses, and Virginia code 24.2-1019 requires registrars to immediately notify their county or city prosecutor.
"Back in 2006, the then-Justice Department actually approved of this law and said that it is not only further constitutional, but we have given it thorough review, and we're OK with you moving ahead with it," Youngkin said Sunday in an interview.
"Now, 25 days last week before the election, a Justice Department decides they are going to bring suit after this law has been in effect for 18 years, administered by Democrat and Republican governors," he added.
The League of Women Voters and DOJ filed suit, claiming Virginia's not permitted to clean the rolls during a 90-day "quiet period" ahead of the election.
Giles "expressed skepticism" about the state's assertions and defense of purging noncitizens from its rolls, according to Politico.
It's unclear when the judge might render a decision.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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