ALEXANDRIA, Va. — An Alexandria judge pushed back a ruling on Virginia’s Executive Order 35 on Thursday afternoon.
A hearing on the executive order, challenged by the Department of Justice (DOJ), League of Women Voters (LWV) and other organizations, began at 10 a.m. Thursday. The plaintiffs asked for a preliminary injunction, or temporary pause on the law, while the case is tried.
Executive Order 35 was signed in August and requires daily updates to voter rolls using DMV data. The DOJ and LWV argue this policy violates the National Voter Registration Act, which bans systemic changes to voter lists within 90 days of an election.
Federal court documents submitted Thursday tell stories of voters who were reportedly removed from registration lists. One document claims a woman, a natural-born citizen who’s voted in Virginia for more than 20 years, was told she was unregistered because she hadn’t checked the “U.S. Citizen” box on a DMV form.
A court declaration from a Colombian immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen said, “I am concerned that my voter registration may be canceled again, and that I may not be able to vote in this election or future elections.” Court documents say the woman registered to vote in 2013, but she updated her driver's license in 2018 when she was reportedly a legal resident.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin weighed in on the lawsuit Wednesday in Virginia Beach. “Twenty-five days before an election, and the Justice Department had all kinds of time to talk about it. They didn’t,” Youngkin said. He added, “I do believe It’s very political, and I’m sorry it has to be described that way.”
The judge is expected to rule on the preliminary injunction during a hearing scheduled for Friday morning.