Judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations canceled in effort to purge noncitizens

[Yonnie3]

Source: AP

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Updated 11:04 AM EDT, October 25, 2024

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles granted an injunction request brought against Virginia election officials by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls.

Thomas Sanford, an attorney with the Virginia attorney general’s office, told the judge at the conclusion of Friday’s hearing that the state intends to appeal her ruling.

The Justice Department and private groups, including the League of Women Voters, said many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were canceled were in fact citizens whose registrations were canceled because of bureaucratic errors or simple mistakes like a mischecked box on a form.

--snip--more at link--

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/virginia-voter-registration-canceled-noncitizens-purge-judge-6b8dc9f01ef9afcbd06d4967ce68db46

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. GOOD!

[onetexan]

2. +1 for justice & democracy!!

[underpants]

3. From local ABC affiliate

Advocacy groups that sued — the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the League of Women Voters of Virginia and others – said that data shared by the state for the case shows more than 1,600 people had their voter registrations canceled as a result.

The groups also say that eligible voters were incorrectly removed under the program, submitting court filings that contend that at least three citizens had their registrations canceled.

https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/federal-judge-orders-virginia-to-halt-voter-removal-program-put-people-back-on-voter-rolls/

[Yonnie3]

6. Thanks

[LaMouffette]

4. There needs to be a whopping penalty for each instance of someone wrongfully purged, like making them pay $100,000

to each person they tried to disenfranchise. Otherwise, without any kind of penalty, they will keep trying the same bullshit, thinking it's worth a shot and no harm, no foul if they are found guilty of wrongdoing.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

5. I read that as a whipping penalty

30 lashes? 20? 10?

[LaMouffette]

12. Ha! Nah, I think paying huge fees hurts them more!

[BumRushDaShow]

9. That type of thing was included in the "For the People Act of 2021"

H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021

It was passed by the House in 2021 but died in the Senate because Manchin and Sinema blocked changing the filibuster (cloture) rule to allow passage by a simple majority.

This thing is unbelievably comprehensive (the PDF version is 884 pages long) and the penalties include that $100K and in some cases, up to 5 years in prison.

Example of one section of it -

(b) Deceptive Acts.--
``(1) False statements regarding federal elections.--
``(A) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any
person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise,
within 60 days before an election described in
subsection (e), by any means, including by means of
written, electronic, or telephonic communications, to
communicate or cause to be communicated information
described in subparagraph (B), or produce information
described in subparagraph (B) with the intent that such
information be communicated, if such person--
``(i) knows such information to be
materially false; and
``(ii) has the intent to mislead voters, or
the intent to impede or prevent another person
from exercising the right to vote in an
election described in subsection (e).
``(B) Information described.--Information is
described in this subparagraph if such information is
regarding--
``(i) the time or place of holding any
election described in subsection (e); or
``(ii) the qualifications for or
restrictions on voter eligibility for any such
election, including--
``(I) any criminal, civil, or other
legal penalties associated with voting
in any such election; or
``(II) information regarding a
voter's registration status or
eligibility.
``(2) Penalty.--Any person who violates paragraph (1) shall
be fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned for not more than 5
years, or both.
``(c) Hindering, Interfering With, or Preventing Voting or
Registering To Vote.--
``(1) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person,
whether acting under color of law or otherwise, to
intentionally hinder, interfere with, or prevent another person
from voting, registering to vote, or aiding another person to
vote or register to vote in an election described in subsection
(e), including by operating a polling place or ballot box that
falsely purports to be an official location established for
such an election by a unit of government.
``(2) Penalty.--Any person who violates paragraph (1) shall
be fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned for not more than 5
years, or both.
``(d) Attempt.--Any person who attempts to commit any offense
described in subsection (a), (b)(1), or (c)(1) shall be subject to the
same penalties as those prescribed for the offense that the person
attempted to commit.

(snip)

[LaMouffette]

13. Thanks for the information, BumRushDaShow! Manchin and Sinema: the gifts that keep on taking. I can't believe this bill

hasn't been an established part of federal voting laws since . . . forever! The only way it will probably ever pass now is with a Democratic supermajority in both the Senate and House. Yikes.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. If we can hold the Senate

It only takes a simple majority to change the Rule.

Because we had such a narrow margin (in 2020, it was a "tie", but we had "control" because the VP was a (D) and 2022, a 1 vote difference), the actions of those 2 Senators meant we didn't have 51 votes to change the Rule and not only pass that, but the other voting rights bill -

H.R.4 - John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021

where the above bill would have restored what John Roberts threw out from the original 1965 Voting Rights Act (i.e., Sects. 4 & 5 that required "pre-clearance" of changes made to anything to do with voting/elections for a certain list of states), PLUS codify Roe with this -

H.R.3755 - Women's Health Protection Act of 2021

All 3 of those bills had passed the House (when we still had the majority) and died in the Senate.

[Wonder Why]

14. Think about it.

It's the state not a private company but the taxpayers, who are penalized.

The Law they violated was that they did it during a quiet period just before the election. The government and judge did the right thing.

They do make mistakes and should be required to notify the person that they will remove them at a reasonable date in the future and provide an easy way to protest the action.

I hope you don't have to pay $100k every time you made a mistake on the job. I know I'd be bankrupt if I did. 😀

[Yonnie3]

8. Yes,

you are confused.

At least some of the purged voters are citizens. There was not adequate care taken to ensure that this didn't happen to citizens. There was not adequate time allowed for people to react.

[Grins]

10. "...going to appeal" the judge's ruling.

The fuckery of conservatives.

In Virginia the state AG is a Republican. HE did this in violation of STATE LAW!

Break a STATE LAW - appeal.
Higher court agrees with lower court - appeal.
Federal appellate court agrees with state court - appeal.
SCOTUS refuses to hear appeal - “See? We wuz’ robbed!”
And by then it’s almost 2026 with voters still screwed.
And the world goes round and round….

There needs to be a penalty for this on-going political scheme to screw voters.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. The issue in this case, the judge found, was that

Last edited Fri Oct 25, 2024, 01:44 PM - Edit history (1)

the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls.

Youngkin’s order purging Virginians from voting rolls reversed in federal court in Alexandria

By James Cullum
Published October 25, 2024 at 2:01PM

A federal judge in Alexandria today ordered Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin to restore the voting rights of more than 1,600 Virginians taken off the rolls just weeks before the Nov. 5 general election.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said that Youngkin’s order on Aug. 7 systematically discriminated against Virginia residents within the 90-day “quiet period” before election day as outlined in the National Voter Registration Act.

Youngkin issued the order on Aug. 7, exactly 90 days before the Nov. 5 presidential election. Per the order, citizenship data collected from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles was sent daily to a database with the Virginia State Board of Elections. If the DMV record stated that the resident is not a U.S. citizen, that person’s name would be removed from voting rolls.

{snip}

Both Judge Giles and Thomas Sanford went to UVa Law School.

Patricia Tolliver Giles

Education
Giles grew up in Hampton, Virginia. Giles received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in 1995 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1998.

{snip}

Thomas Sanford, Deputy Attorney General

Education
University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia
Master of Arts - MA
Washington and Lee University
Bachelor of Arts (BA)

{snip}

[Martin68]

15. Glad to hear this. Youngkin is an embarrassment to Virginia - a governor who tries to disenfranchise his own electorate.

[republianmushroom]

17. I like it.