Court upholds block on Virginia voter purge of suspected noncitizens
USA TodayOct 31
US Supreme Court Allows Virginia to Remove Suspected Noncitizens From Rolls
Above: People pass outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7, 2024 in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Kent Nishimura/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
The US Supreme Court issued an emergency order on Wednesday allowing Virginia to remove suspected noncitizens from its voter registration rolls ahead of Election Day next week.
A final ruling on the issue has been left for a future date, with three Democratic-appointed justices — Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Sonia Sotomayor — indicating their opposition to the program.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
It's very unlikely that this voter purge will change the results of any races in Virginia. However, as the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has allowed this state to ignore federal voting rights law, other states may follow suit and defy the National Registration Voter Act's 90-day ban on purges and create nationwide chaos.
Republican narrative
With this emergency order, the Supreme Court has stepped in to ensure election integrity in Virginia ahead of the Nov. 5 vote — preventing situations where noncitizens are able to cast a valid ballot. On top of that, this legal battle has further shown that Democrats effectively want noncitizens to vote.