By African Communities Together
Photos: African Communities Together\YouTube Screenshots
ALEXANDRIA, V.A.– African Communities Together has joined a lawsuit against the Virginia Board of Elections and Attorney General Jason Miyares, alleging multiple violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). The lawsuit, originally filed on October 8, 2024, argues that the “Purge Program,” a voter removal effort by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by blocking U.S. citizens from exercising their fundamental right to vote and illegally implementing a purge program during the “quiet period”. The lawsuit states:
“The Purge Program systematically removes Virginians from the voter rolls shortly before the November 2024 general election based solely on the fact that they were at one point identified as a potential noncitizens—according to databases from the DMV or other sources— even if they have since become naturalized citizens and lawfully registered to vote or even if they are U.S.-born citizens who were mistakenly identified as noncitizens.”
On August 7, 2024, three months before Election Day, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order (E.O. 35) that required state and local election officials to remove individuals from the state voter registration list if Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records do not indicate that they are U.S. citizens. The order also required that individuals be notified of pending cancellations and required to provide provide proof of citizenship within 14 days or be removed from registration lists.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, African Communities Together (ACT), Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR), the League of Women Voters of Virginia Education Fund, and the League of Women Voters of Virginia, state that the program also violates the 90-day quiet period mandated by the NVRA, which prohibits programs like this during the period “to protect voter registration lists from the inevitable chaos of potentially inaccurate removals.”
In Virginia, drivers’ licenses are available to all residents regardless of citizenship and can remain valid for up to eight years. Therefore, registered voters who obtained a drivers license upon their arrival and then became a U.S. citizen, may not have their citizenship listed correctly on their identification and under this program, are being unlawfully removed from the voter registry.
“Under Executive Order 35, the purge program has removed more than 6300 residents declared as non citizens; and thereby impacting us all, including the over 85,000 registered African voters in Virginia,” said Gigi Traore, Civic Engagement Director at African Communities Together. “A fundamental right that we have here in the US, is access to the ballot box, but that right is being attacked by faulty administrative processes. With less than thirty days before the final day to vote, we are raising a strong African voice and stand in unity defending our right and the rights of all voters as outlined in the National Voters Registration Act.”
VACIR Board Chair and Virginia State Director of EMGAGE, Mohamed Gula, said “ The careless purging of voters without proper fact checking or oversight is a direct assault of our American democracy. Executive Order 35 is a targeted attack on naturalized citizens, and is the latest of many unsubstantiated policy attacks based on political misinformation and not facts. Voting is a patriotic privilege that generations of naturalized citizens have fought and died for. We will defend the right of all US citizens to vote and demand all Virginia elected officials abide by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.”
“The League of Women Voters of Virginia has a 104 year history of standing up for free and fair access to the polls for all Americans, that includes naturalized citizens,” said Joan Porte, President of the League of Women Voters Virginia. “We are proud to stand up for voters today against the Governor’s purging of voters based on unreliable and out of date information in violation of the National Voting Rights Act’s timelines.”
About African Communities Together
African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for African families in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT connects African immigrants to critical services, helps Africans develop as leaders, and organizes African immigrant communities on the issues that matter.
Twitter/Instagram: @AfricansUS
Facebook: facebook.com/AfricansUS
Website: www.africans.us
