3 weeks ago
35
The Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume its purge of voter registrations that the state says is aimed at stopping people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.
The high court, over the dissents of the three liberal justices, granted an emergency appeal from Virginia's Republican administration led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The court provided no rationale for its action, which is typical in emergency appeals.
The justices acted on Virginia's appeal after a federal judge found that the state illegally purged more than 1,600 voter registrations in the past two months. A federal appeals court had previously allowed the judge's order to remain in effect.
Such voting is rare in American elections, but the specter of immigrants voting illegally has been a main part of the political messaging this year from Donald Trump and other Republicans.
RELATED STORY: The fear of noncitizen voting is as baseless as it has been for 200 years
