While the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed Virginia’s right to remove noncitizens from its voter rolls, Attorney General Jason Miyares said on Wednesday he remains “deeply concerned and alarmed” by the legal action taken against Virginia by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) prior to the high court’s intervention.
The Biden-Harris administration sued Virginia earlier in October, claiming the state violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by removing about 1,600 noncitizens from the commonwealth’s voter rolls within 90 days of an election.
Though the DOJ obtained favorable rulings in lower courts, Virginia successfully argued through its filings before the Supreme Court that the voters were added as the result of an error when applying for a Virginia driver’s license, and many signed documents specifically stating they are not U.S. citizens and do not have the right to vote, giving the commonwealth the right to remove them from its voter rolls.
“While I am gratified the Court moved so quickly, I remain deeply concerned and alarmed that the Biden-Harris administration chose to execute this maneuver just 25 days before an election,” said Miyares in a statement posted to the social media platform X.
Miyares described the Supreme Court ruling as a victory for commonsense in a video attached to his statement.
https://www.twitter.com/JasonMiyaresVA/status/1851668529017245900
“This is a win for commonsense, it’s a win for the rule of law, and means Virginia will continue to be allowed to follow our own laws, this idea that Virginia citizens should be deciding Virginia elections,” said Miyares in the video, before thanking his team for working tirelessly to resolve the litigation prior to Election Day.
He noted, “These 20-plus days of litigating this matter have been incredibly stressful.”
Governor Glenn Youngkin said in his own statement that he was “pleased” with the Supreme Court’s decision before praising Miyares’ efforts.
“This is a victory for common sense and election fairness,” said Youngkin. “I am grateful for the work of Attorney General Jason Miyares on this critical fight to protect the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens.”
The order revealed Justices John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett ruled in favor of Virginia, while Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan would not have granted the commonwealth’s request, which Miyares’ office submitted on Sunday.
Before the decision, Virginia received support from at least 26 states in an amicus brief filed by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who urged the high court to grant Virginia’s request or risk undermining the constitutionality of the NVRA.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jason Miyares” by Jason Miyares.
