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In August, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) ordered a purge of the voting rolls of people suspected of not being a citizen. Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Gee, who was appointed by Youngkin (the position is not an elected one in Virginia), started to carry out the order. The DoJ has now sued Virginia because a 1993 federal law called the National Voter Registration Act states that any mass changes to the voting rolls must be completed no later than 90 days before the next election. But who cares about federal law when there is an election to win?
Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible if noncitizens were removed from the rolls, since they are not allowed to be there in the first place. However, Virginia has done these purges before, and in the past, U.S. citizens have been purged, including some who repeatedly affirmed they were citizens and who provided their Social Security numbers. The federal law was intended to protect these people in a situation when there is no time to go to court to fight the removal.
Naturally, Youngkin objected to the lawsuit. He accused the Biden administration of "filing an unprecedented lawsuit" less than 30 days from the election. Of course, he didn't mention his illegal purge of voters just before an election, which is what triggered the lawsuit.
Alabama tried to do the same thing as Virginia and also got itself sued by the DoJ.
The DoJ has asked voters who believe they have been erroneously removed from the voting rolls to contact the Department through an Internet reporting portal. Kristen Clarke, an assistant AG, said: "The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy and the Justice Department will continue to ensure that the rights of qualified voters are protected." (V)