Supreme Court approves Virginia voter purge

The Donald Trump and MAGA-influenced U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Virginia to proceed with a program targeting the removal of suspected noncitizens from its voter registration rolls, in a decision made without commentary from the majority. Just days before the election, conservative justices supported the decision, which sparked sharp reactions from voting rights organizations and Democratic leaders who claim it may disenfranchise hundreds of eligible voters.The program, implemented under Gov. Glenn Youngkin, directs election officials to purge voters flagged as potential noncitizens through Department of Motor Vehicles data, impacting roughly 1,600 registrations. While Governor Youngkin called the Court’s ruling a “victory for common sense and election fairness,” the program has faced opposition from the Biden administration and advocates, who argue it violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). This 1993 law prohibits “systematic” changes to voter rolls within 90 days of a federal election.Lower courts, including a three-judge panel from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, had previously blocked Virginia’s efforts, concluding that citizens may be mistakenly purged and noting that some registrations were removed without verified citizenship status. Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles emphasized that “none of the parties involved… knew for certain the citizenship status of the purged...