The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday docketed the appeal filed Sunday by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares after a federal appeals court declined to overrule a lower court’s decision to force Virginia to add approximately 1,600 noncitizens back to its voter rolls.
According to the Supreme Court’s online portal, the case was docketed on Monday after Virginia submitted its appeal for the high court to reverse a lower court’s decision on Sunday.
Once the case was docketed, Chief Justice John Roberts demanded the plaintiffs behind the lawsuit provide a response arguing why noncitizen voters should not be removed from the voter rolls by 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Biden-Harris Department of Justice first sued the Commonwealth of Virginia on October 11, after the commonwealth discovered an error that led to about 1,600 noncitizens being registered to vote despite filling out a form that specifically signified they are not citizens of the United States and do not have the right to vote.
Miyares argued in the Sunday filing with the Supreme Court, “The injunction, which prohibits the application of a law that has been on the books since the Justice Department precleared it in 2006, will also irreparably injure Virginia’s sovereignty, confuse her voters, overload her election machinery and administrators, and likely lead noncitizens to think they are permitted to vote, a criminal offence that will cancel the franchise of eligible voters.”
Both Youngkin and Miyares vowed to take their appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary last week when a federal judge ordered Virginia to restore the noncitizen voters. The judge cited the National Voter Registration Act, which prevents states from cleaning their voter rolls shortly before elections.
“It’s stunning that, just 11 days before the presidential election, a federal judge is ordering Virginia to reinstate individuals who have self-identified as noncitizens on the voter rolls,” said Youngkin on Friday. Miyares called it a “shameful, politically motivated stunt” by the Biden-Harris administration.
The Virginia leaders were joined in their condemnation by attorney Mike Davis, who is often floated as a possible attorney general pick should former President Donald Trump win on November 5.
Noting last week’s decision came from District Judge Patricia Giles, an appointee of President Joe Biden, he wrote, “The Supreme Court must fix this immediately.”
The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) joined the condemnation on Monday in a statement posted to the social media platform X, where RNLA president Michael Thielen said the “Establishment Left is panicking.”
📢RNLA Statement on the Biden-Harris DOJ forcing non-citizens onto Virginia voting rolls📢
"The Establishment Left is panicking, and they should be.
"They rigged their primary, kicked the incumbent president out of the race, and installed the most unpopular, radically left-wing…
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) October 28, 2024
Thielen said, “The Left and mainstream media insist that non-citizens aren’t on the voting rolls and aren’t voting, but the Biden-Harris DOJ forces Virginia to put known non-citizens on its voting rolls. What a stunning example of the Democrats’ desperation and hypocrisy.”
In response to the revelation that noncitizens are registered to vote in multiple states, Democrats have insisted noncitizens are legally forbidden from voting in federal elections.
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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].
