US Justice Department sues Virginia for purging voters before election
Al JazeeraOct 12
Virginia Asks US Supreme Court to Approve Voter Registration Removals
Image copyright: Saul Loeb/ Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has filed an emergency petition with the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) asking it to overturn a lower court's ruling that stopped the state's removal of suspected noncitizens from its voter rolls.
This comes after a federal appeals court Sunday upheld the lower court's ruling, restoring the registrations of some 1.6K voters removed under an order by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who said the effort is meant to keep noncitizens from voting.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Of course Youngkin's order violates federal law. Worst of all, he issued the order based on conspiracy theories former Pres. Donald Trump and Republicans have been spreading about noncitizens voting without offering any proof. Youngkin's order would disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters, which can't happen this close to the election. Republicans' attempts at voter suppression seemingly know no bounds.
Republican narrative
Obviously, there are forces in the Democratic-led US government who think they'll gain an advantage by allowing noncitizens to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Accusations of voter suppression are ridiculous because Youngkin's order has numerous failsafes to make sure eligible voters will be able to participate in the election. The courts interfering in Virginia's business this close to Election Day smells of partisan politics gone wrong.
