Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Wednesday called the Supreme Court’s order halting a lower court’s decision to reinstate hundreds of potential noncitizens to the state’s voter rolls “a huge win for the rule of law.”
“This is just a huge win for the rule of law,” Miyares told Fox News Digital shortly after the Supreme Court issued its order. “It ensures that Virginia will be allowed to follow our laws that make sure that noncitizens are not on our voter rolls for next week’s elections, that we’re not going to be forced to be putting 1,500 plus noncitizens back on our rolls.”
“I’m very grateful that the Supreme Court recognized the importance of the issue and they made this decision in such a short timeframe,” Miyares said. “It’s really just a reaffirmation of our commitment to both election integrity and making sure that our electoral process remains secure for all Virginians.”
SUPREME COURT TEMPORARILY HALTS LOWER COURT RULING ORDERING 1,600 VOTERS BACK ON VIRGINIA VOTER ROLLS
Miyares went on to applaud the team at the Virginia Attorney General’s Office for the “amount of hard work these past two weeks upholding and defending Virginia law.”
“And I’m very, very proud of my team because their commitment to the rule of law has been exemplary during this process,” Miyares said.
A divided court granted the state’s stay application pending appeal in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The decision proves a victory for Gov. Glenn Youngkin just days after the state had filed an emergency appeal to the high court to halt a lower court decision ordering it to restore the names of approximately 1,600 individuals to its voter rolls.
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“We are pleased by the Supreme Court’s order today. This is a victory for commonsense and election fairness. I am grateful for the work of Attorney General Jason Miyares on this critical fight to protect the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens,” Youngkin said in a statement shortly after the order was issued.
The core question of the case was whether Virginia had violated a so-called quiet period under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), or a federal law requiring states to halt all “systematic” voter roll maintenance for a 90-day period before a federal election.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the state – including Miyares in his official capacity as Virginia attorney general – over its removal program earlier this month. Youngkin has insisted that the state’s process is “individualized” and conducted in accordance with state and federal law.
Virginia’s voter roll maintenance program was implemented in August of this year and compares the state Department of Motor Vehicles’ list of self-identified noncitizens to its list of registered voters. Individuals without citizenship were flagged and informed that their voter registration would be canceled unless they could prove their citizenship in 14 days.
The DOJ argued such removals were conducted too close to Nov. 5 and thus violated the NVRA’s quiet period provision. This was backed by a U.S. judge in Alexandria, who ordered the state to halt its removals last week and to reinstate the registrations of all 1,600 removed individuals.
The DOJ said in a statement Wednesday after the Supreme Court’s ruling, “The Department brought this suit to ensure that every eligible American citizen can vote in our elections. We disagree with the Supreme Court’s order.”
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
