US Justice Dept sues Virginia for violating federal election law

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday it sued the state of Virginia for violating the federal prohibition on systematic efforts to remove voters within 90 days of an election.

On Aug. 7, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order requiring the commissioner of Department of Elections to certify that the department was conducting "daily updates to the voter list" to remove, among other groups, people who are unable to verify that they are citizens to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

U.S. citizens who were identified and notified, and did not affirm their citizenship within 14 days would be removed from the list of registered voters, the Justice Department said. It said this practice has led to citizens having their voter registrations canceled ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

"By cancelling voter registrations within 90 days of Election Day, Virginia places qualified voters in jeopardy of being removed from the rolls and creates the risk of confusion for the electorate," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.

"Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters," Clarke added.

The department said it is seeking injunctive relief that would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote unimpeded on Election Day and would prohibit future violations.

Youngkin called the move politically motivated and an attempt to interfere in the election.

"With the support of our Attorney General, we will defend these common sense steps that we are legally required to take with every resource available to us," he said in a statement on Friday.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump described the department's lawsuit as "an unconstitutional and illegal attack on America's democracy."

Republicans across the U.S. have pushed against non-citizen voting, which is already illegal, ahead of the November election. Some election officials have warned that the move could penalize eligible voters.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Katharine Jackson, Bill Berkrot and Diane Craft)