Republicans applaud ruling allowing Virginia to remove noncitizens from voter rolls

Republican leaders are praising Wednesday's 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow Virginia to keep “noncitizens” off the voter rolls.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who led the appeal in the highest court, calls the ruling a “win for election integrity and the rule of law.” Although pleased with the outcome, he expressed concern with the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to “execute” his lawsuit.

"This ruling is a win for election integrity and the rule of law. While I am gratified the Court moved so quickly, I remain deeply concerned and alarmed that the Biden-Harris administration chose to execute this maneuver just 25 days before an election. Today’s ruling is a reaffirmation of our commitment to election integrity, and I look forward to ensuring that our electoral process remains secure for all Virginians,” said Miyares.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin celebrated the ruling, calling it a “victory for commonsense and election fairness.” He reiterated the importance of maintaining clean voter rolls in protecting the “fundamental rights of U.S. citizens.”

"Clean voter rolls are one important part of a comprehensive approach we are taking to ensure the fairness of our elections,” said Youngkin.

In addition to the voter rolls, the governor underscored the commonwealth’s efforts to secure elections from “politically-motivated interference.”

“Virginians also know that we have paper ballots, counting machines not connected to the internet, a strong chain of custody process, signature verification, monitored and secured drop boxes, and a 'triple check' vote counting process to tabulate results. Virginians can cast their ballots on Election Day knowing that Virginia’s elections are fair, secure, and free from politically-motivated interference," Youngkin said.

The Republican National Lawyers Association accused Democrats and the Department of Justice of trying to force the commonwealth to put “ineligible” voters on the voter rolls, claiming many of the people “asked” to be removed from the rolls.

"The corrupt Biden-Harris Justice Dept and three Democrat-appointed judges are trying to force the Commonwealth of Virginia to violate state and federal law to put self-admitted, ineligible non-citizens back on its voter rolls. Many of these people actually asked to be removed from the voter rolls. 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," said Michael Thielen, president of RNLA.

Protect Democracy, one of the groups behind the initial lawsuit filed against Virginia to halt the removal of “noncitizens” from the voter rolls, criticized the ruling, sticking by their claim that the voter-purge program was “illegal.”

“Despite clear law and undisputed evidence that the program removes eligible U.S. citizens from the rolls, the Supreme Court overturned two carefully reasoned federal court rulings in our lawsuit challenging Virginia’s illegal voter-purge program,” Aaron Baird, spokesperson for the group, told The Center Square. “The Court majority – over the public dissent of three Justices – offered no reasoning for its decision. As a result, Virginia will not have to reinstate purged eligible voters because of SCOTUS’s decision.”

Baird argues that Virginia failed to provide evidence of “noncitizens” voting in elections, arguing that the voter purge actually hurts “eligible” Virginia voters.

“Bottom line: We know this program removes eligible voters. Virginia has not presented any evidence of noncitizens participating in elections. Because there is none. And it’s actually eligible VA voters that have been caught in the middle of this election-subversion scheme,” Baird added.

The SCOTUS ruling was followed by another Republican victory on Wednesday, as the Trump campaign won a lawsuit against Bucks County, Penn., over mail-in ballots.