The Justice Department is photographed on June 8, 2023. The department has filed a lawsuit against Virginia election officials, accusing the state of removing names from voter rolls in violation of U.S. law.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/AP

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Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/AP

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Friday against election officials in Virginia, accusing the state of striking names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, says an executive order issued in August by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin requiring daily updates to voter rolls to remove ineligible voters violates federal law. The National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” for voter roll maintenance before elections.

“Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s grace period restriction to prevent error-prone, last-minute efforts that too often disenfranchise qualified voters,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. “The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy and the Department of Justice will continue to ensure the rights of qualified voters are protected.”

A similar lawsuit was filed earlier this week by a coalition of immigrant rights groups and the League of Women Voters.

In its lawsuit, the Justice Department said the grace period provision reduces the risk that errors in maintaining registration rolls will disenfranchise eligible voters by ensuring they have enough time to correct errors before the election.

On Aug. 7 — 90 days before the Nov. 5 federal election — Youngkin’s order formalized a systematic process to remove people who “cannot prove whether they are citizens” from the statewide voter registration list with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

According to the filing, election officials in Virginia use Department of Motor Vehicles data to determine a voter’s citizenship and eligibility. The lawsuit alleges that DMV data may be inaccurate or out of date, but officials did not take additional steps to verify a person’s alleged non-citizen status before sending them a notice of disenfranchisement.

In a statement Friday, Youngkin said state officials would properly enforce the state law requiring the removal of non-citizens from voter rolls.

“Virginians – and Americans – will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of elections in the Commonwealth, the true crucible of American democracy,” Youngkin said of the Justice Department’s lawsuit.

“With the support of our Attorney General, we will defend these common-sense steps, which we are legally obligated to take, with every means at our disposal. Virginia’s election will be safe and fair, and I will not stand idly by as this politically motivated effort attempts to interfere in our elections, period,” Youngkin said.

Across the country, conservatives have questioned the legitimacy of large numbers of voter registrations ahead of the Nov. 5 election. The Republican National Committee, reconstituted under Trump, was also involved in efforts to challenge voter rolls ahead of the November election.