Youngkin criticizes DOJ suit against Virginia: 'This is not a purge'

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) criticized a Justice Department suit against his state over the purging of voter rolls on Sunday.

“To be clear, this is not a purge,” Youngkin said on “Fox News Sunday” to anchor Shannon Bream about voter roll removals.

“This is based on a law that was signed into effect in 2006 by then-Democrat Governor Tim Kaine," Youngkin added, explaining that there is a "individualized process" to determine whether self-identified non-citizens are able to vote in the state.

If voters do not affirm their citizenship status, they are removed from the rolls, the governor said.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department unveiled a lawsuit against Virginia for voter roll purging. According to the department, Virginia officials violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) by challenging the eligibility of voters too close to the upcoming election.

“As the National Voter Registration Act mandates, officials across the country should take heed of the law’s crystal clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division, said.

Youngkin signed an executive order in August validating “daily” updates to the voter list. The updates featured “compar[ing] the list of individuals who have been identified as non-citizens” by the State Department of Motor Vehicles “to the list of existing registered voters.” 

Local registrars then had to reach out to challenged voters to tell them about “pending cancellation” unless they “affirm their citizenship” in 14 days.

The Justice Department has said, however, that this process resulted in some Virginians’ voter registration being canceled.

“And now, 25 days — last week — before the election, a Justice Department decides they are going to bring suit after this law’s been in effect for 18 years, administered by Democrat and Republican governors. And this is the reason why I believe that Americans and Virginians wonder what the Justice Department is up to,” Youngkin said in his “Fox News Sunday” appearance.

The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department.