The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 6–3 to allow Virginia to remove 1,600 alleged noncitizens from its voter rolls just days before the federal election.
The emergency order, issued on Oct. 30, permits state officials to proceed with the removals despite a lower court’s concerns about possible voter rights violations.
The case, titled Beals v. Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, arose after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled on Oct. 27 that removing names from the voter list within 90 days of an upcoming election would contravene the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
With federal elections set for Nov. 5, the lower court had halted the state’s efforts, saying it might disrupt the voting process.
However, Virginia officials appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the NVRA’s restrictions did not apply to their actions since the targeted individuals were not U.S. citizens.
Virginia argued that this interpretation of the NVRA would prevent “costly confusion and hardship” and eliminate the need to re-add suspected noncitizens to the rolls, which they said would consume vital resources and might lead noncitizens to believe they were eligible to vote.
Governor Glenn Youngkin praised the decision, calling it “a victory for common sense and election fairness.” Youngkin highlighted clean voter rolls as a key step toward ensuring transparent and secure elections, similar to efforts like Texas’s extensive voter roll updates.
The governor also highlighted other state measures to enhance election integrity, including paper ballots, secure counting machines, signature verification, and stringent custody processes for ballots.
Dissenting Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed their objections, noting that they would not have approved the emergency relief sought by Virginia.
The Supreme Court’s ruling now sends the case back to the Fourth Circuit for additional hearings on Virginia’s ongoing appeal.
Despite the ruling, critics have voiced concerns.
Danielle Lang, representing the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, labeled the Supreme Court’s decision as “outrageous.”
She cautioned that the purge could inadvertently impact eligible citizens and noted that eligible Virginians would still have the option to register on Election Day if needed.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) also criticized the Supreme Court’s order.
A DOJ spokesperson noted that the department initiated this case to safeguard the voting rights of all eligible citizens. “We disagree with the Supreme Court’s order,” they remarked, underscoring their commitment to ensuring broad voter participation.
This latest ruling aligns with a 2006 Supreme Court precedent in Purcell v. Gonzalez, which discourages changes to voting procedures too close to an election to avoid voter confusion.
However, Virginia contends that this principle does not apply here, as the individuals being removed are reportedly not U.S. citizens.
As the appeal progresses, Virginia’s legal team maintains that this removal process adheres to state laws and aims to protect the integrity of the election by ensuring only eligible citizens are on the rolls.