Every American citizen, regardless of where they are born, has the freedom to vote. Yet recent voter purges in Virginia and across the country target naturalized citizens and threaten Americans’ freedom to vote.
Just before voters are set to head to the ballot box, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin implemented a voter purge program that is illegally targeting naturalized citizens and violates federal law.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and our partners are representing several Virginia-based organizations in a lawsuit to stop the illegal voter purge in Virginia. This lawsuit comes on the heels of a letter CLC and partners wrote to state officials demanding they stop the illegal purge program.
The state uses Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) data to purge voters. Because Virginia driver’s licenses are available to residents who are not U.S. citizens and can remain valid for up to eight years, DMV data is often faulty and outdated, especially for the status of naturalized voters.
If anyone is flagged in the DMV’s records that they are not a citizen, the state automatically sends them a removal notice. That means someone could get their driver's license while working to obtain their citizenship, become a citizen and register to vote, but then be purged from the voter rolls and denied their freedom to vote because of outdated DMV data.
In addition, voters are often rushed through electronic transactions at the DMV and can inadvertently check the wrong box, mistakenly indicating the incorrect citizenship status.
There are already strict laws in place that ensure only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections. The safeguards we already have in place, including strict criminal punishment, financial penalties and possible deportation, ensure that only eligible citizens register and vote.
Last-minute voter purges that occur within 30 days of Election Day, when early voting is already underway, inevitably deny qualified Americans their freedom to vote.
States are almost always banned from implementing these last-minute purges under a federal law, the National Voter Registration Act, but Virginia is breaking the law to conduct a last-minute purge.
Naturalized Americans work hard to become citizens and have the same freedom to vote as all other Americans.
The court must step in and stop Virginia’s last-minute voter purge program so every Virginian can make their voice heard in the November election.