26 state AGs file brief with SCOTUS in support of Virginia removing non-citizens from voter rolls

Attorneys general from 26 states filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Virginia removing non-citizens from its voter rolls.

Kansas led the Republican state coalition in the brief filed on Monday, which includes Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The Justice Department sued Virginia earlier this month over removing more than 1,500 non-citizens from its rolls ahead of the Nov. 5 elections. A federal judge in Virginia on Friday ordered the commonwealth to place non-citizens back on its voter rolls. The judge ruled that removing the registered voters from the rolls violated federal law, WRIC reported.

While Virginia argued that the non-citizens removed from the voter rolls are ineligible to vote, the judge ruled that they were illegally removed too close to the election in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

Virginia appealed the decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. The court ruled against Virginia on Sunday in the commonwealth's appeal to keep the non-citizens off of its voter rolls. Virginia appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.

The 26 state attorneys general argued in their brief that removing non-citizens from voter rolls does not violate the NVRA.

"Noncitizens are not eligible voters," the AGs wrote. "They were not eligible voters before Congress passed the NVRA, they were not eligible when Congress passed the NVRA, and they are not eligible voters today. Congress was clearly concerned with State laws that removed previously eligible citizens from the voter rolls. But it was assumed by the NVRA’s supporters that noncitizens would not register in the first place, and at no point did Congress express concern that States would follow their laws and remove self-reported noncitizens who did register from the lists."

"It has always been against the law for non-citizens to vote. It is unconscionable that Dems and activist judges are fighting to keep them on the rolls," Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach posted on X on Tuesday regarding the amicus brief.