Protecting Citizens from Unlawful Purges
The League of Women Voters of Virginia (LWVVA), the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and African Communities Together filed a lawsuit in federal court to challenge the state’s policy of removing voters from the rolls only one month before the upcoming election. The lawsuit asserted these systematic purges of Virginia’s voter rolls violate the National Voter Registration Act and risk improper removal of eligible voters, particularly of naturalized US citizens. The challenged policy stemmed from Executive Order 35, which was signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin in August 2024 and required state and local election officials to remove individuals from the state voter registration list if Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records do not indicate U.S. citizenship. The plaintiffs were represented by Campaign Legal Center, Protect Democracy Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Advancement Project.