Appeals court leaves voter purge program in Virginia blocked

A federal appeals court has refused to reinstate a Virginia purge program that was intended to clear suspected noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls.

The decision from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will leave in place a lower court ruling that found the state’s program likely violated the federal law that says voters can’t be removed in the 90 days before an election. It will likely set up the case to be heard by the Supreme Court.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) previously vowed to take the issue to the high court.

The appeals judges said the appellants have not shown that they are likely to prevail in their appeal from the district court’s preliminary injunction. They said they agree with the district court that the program “most certainly is” problematic.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a lawsuit earlier this month against Virginia for purging its voter rolls. The department claims state officials violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by challenging voters’ eligibility too close to November's election.

The appeals judges noted that the state still can prevent noncitizens from voting by canceling registration on an individualized basis or by prosecuting a noncitizen that votes.

"Like the district court, we are unpersuaded” that the state did not violate the NVRA, the judges said.

Youngkin signed an executive order that said there were “daily” updates to the voter list, which include removing individuals identified to be noncitizens.

Last week, Youngkin criticized the DOJ’s lawsuit and said it “is not a purge.”

“This is based on a law that was signed into effect in 2006 by then-Democrat Governor Tim Kaine,” he said.

A federal judge ordered the state to restore more than 1,600 people to the state's voter rolls after the DOJ's lawsuit.

The Hill has reached out to the Virginia Department of Elections for comment.