This story was reported and written by VPM News.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
A federal judge in Virginia ordered Friday that the commonwealth restore hundreds of registered voters back to the rolls. About 1,600 voters were removed under new processes instituted by the state in August.
Judge Patricia Giles, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, issued a preliminary injunction pausing Virginia’s removal process.
On Aug. 7, Gov. Glenn Youngkin ordered that the Department of Elections and Department of Motor Vehicles update voter rolls more frequently, removing people that identified as noncitizens on forms, sometimes mistakenly.
Critics called the order politically motivated and, in the case of the civic groups and the U.S. Department of Justice, illegal.
Both the DOJ and civic groups filed suit against the commonwealth and Elections Commissioner Susan Beals earlier this month.
"Today, the court recognized that federal law protects voters from last-minute removals from the voter rolls,” said Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of Advancement Project — which represented the civil rights groups — in a statement. “Ultimately, Virginia’s desperate attempt to undermine the will of the people and sow distrust in our elections was foiled.”
In a statement, Youngkin said in Virginia would immediately appeal: "Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls.”
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