The United States Supreme Court has handed the state of Virginia a major pre-election victory. The decision allows the commonwealth to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
More than 100 election-related lawsuits have already been filed in several states. Legal experts say the court’s decision is significant because it shows the high court is committed to protecting voter rolls.
In the 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a federal court decision that would have prevented the state of Virginia from removing 1,600 names from its voter rolls.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state after non-citizens and other individuals were placed on an inactive voter list within 90 days of the election.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) argued that the state regularly removes names from its rolls each month when it receives information from the Department of Motor Vehicles indicating an applicant’s non-citizenship status on driver’s license applications.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) claimed a temporary victory, insisting that the state will continue to protect the rights of legal voters.
“But it should be two standards. Easy to vote, hard to cheat. That’s the standard we have in Virginia,” Miyares explained. “That’s why this is a win not only for upholding the rule of law, but I just say common sense.”
On CBN’s Faith Nation program, Cedarville University political science Professor Mark Caleb Smith said he doesn’t believe the Supreme Court’s stay will significantly affect the outcome of the presidential vote in Virginia.
“Virginia isn’t considered to be one of those really close states. You know, if this were happening in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, potentially up to 1,600 votes could be pretty important. Maybe in Virginia, I think that’s probably unlikely. But it does at least suggest the Supreme Court may be willing to engage in a way that maybe people didn’t think would happen even as little as a few days ago.”
Republicans and various other groups have filed 100 similar lawsuits in other states. In Texas, they are suing the Harris County registrar for not removing 562,000 voter names from voter registration rolls.
Harris County includes Houston, which is the fifth-largest city in America.
Attorney Jared Woodfill filed the lawsuit on behalf of his clients. He believes that the Supreme Court’s decision, while temporary, will have an impact.
“It sends a very clear message that the United States Supreme Court is very concerned about voter rolls or voter rosters to make sure they are accurate,” he explained. “You can only commit the voter fraud when you have a roster that is incorrect. So, it is so important in order to maintain the integrity of our elections to make sure that starting point, that voting roster that it is accurate and correct.”
While the Supreme Court’s focus on voter rolls is significant, this is not the conclusion of the Virginia case or similar cases. Courts across the country are preparing to hear hundreds of election challenges in the coming weeks and months.
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