Wednesday, October 30, the United States Supreme Court granted an emergency application from Virginia election officials. The ruling prevents a lower court order from remaining in place, which had prevented election officials from removing over 1,600 people who self-identified as noncitizens from voter rolls. They generally had noncitizen residency documents or declared to the DMV, that they were not US citizens when obtaining driver’s licenses.
Patricia Giles, a Biden appointee to the federal district court, granted a petition filed by a progressive legal coalition that kept Virginia officials from purging noncitizens who are not permitted to vote. The district court based the injunction, which mandates forcing noncitizens back on the ballot, on a provision of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which prevents large-scale removal efforts. The state appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied them relief, and now the Supreme Court has granted it over the objections of the court’s left bloc.
Virginia may once again remove those who proclaimed they are noncitizens, while the Fourth Circuit continues hearing the appeal. This emergency order did not decide the issue once and for all, but simply allows Virginia to continue striking self-identified noncitizens from the rolls, while the issue is considered more thoroughly.
With SCOTUS opening the gates for Virginia to continue tending its voting rolls, this interim ruling suggests other states may use the opportunity to pursue a further reduction in non-eligible voters.
