Press Releases
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Contact: press@vacir.org or (804) 376-1456
VACIR & LWVVA Sue Virginia Department of Elections in
Defense of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993
Alexandria, VA – On the evening of Monday, October 7, 2024 the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR) in partnership with member organization the League of Women Voters of Virginia filed a lawsuit against the Virginia Board of Elections and Attorney General Jason Miyares for multiple alleged violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
The challenged policy is a result of Executive Order 35, which was signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin on August 7, 2024 and requires 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. However, as the complaint explains, Virginia drivers’ licenses are available to non-citizens and can remain valid for up to eight years, meaning people who obtained driver’s licenses as non-citizens, subsequently became U.S. citizens, and lawfully registered to vote are being unlawfully purged from the voter rolls based on outdated DMV information.
President of the League of Women Voters Virginia Joan Porte said, “The League of Women Voters of Virginia has a 104 year history of standing up for free and fair access to the polls for all Americans. We are proud to stand up for voters today against the Governor’s purging of voters based on unreliable and out of date information.” VACIR Board Chair and Virginia State Director of EMGAGE Mohamed Gula noted, “The careless purging of voters without proper fact checking or oversight is a direct assault of our American democracy. Executive Order 35 is a targeted attack on naturalized citizens, and is the latest of many unsubstantiated policy attacks based on political misinformation and not facts. Voting is a patriotic privilege that generations of naturalized citizens have fought and died for. We will defend the right of all US citizens to vote and demand all Virginia elected officials abide by the National Voter Registration Act.”
Civic Engagement Director of African Communities Together Gigi Traore stated, “A critical part of the American Dream is a right to access the ballot box. Executive Order 35 and its faulty administrative process blocks that right for Virginia’s eligible African immigrant community. As a partner organization, African Communities Together stands in support of VACIR and the LWVVA.”
The lawsuit alleges that these systematic purges of Virginia’s voter rolls within 90 days of a federal election violate the National Voter Registration Act and risk improper removal of eligible voters, particularly those who are naturalized U.S. citizens. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Campaign Legal Center, the Protect Democracy Project, and Advancement Project are representing VACIR and the LWVVA in the lawsuit. “The right to vote is fundamental and foundational to our democracy, and states have a responsibility to ensure that eligible voters are not erroneously removed from the voter rolls. Instead, Virginia is fast-tracking removals based on faulty and outdated DMV data without doing anything to verify its accuracy,” said Ryan Snow, Counsel with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “This purge program will disenfranchise eligible New American voters, who are disproportionately voters of color, on the eve of an election.”
Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR) is a multi-racial and multi-ethnic coalition of 49 organizations that exists to win dignity, power and quality of life for all immigrant and refugee communities.
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