Thousands regain voting rights as US judge orders Virginia to reinstate removed voters.

On Friday, a federal judge halted Virginia's removal of potential non-citizens from its state voter rolls, which is expected to restore voting rights to approximately 1,600 residents before Election Day.

On Friday, U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction to reinstate all voters removed from state voter rolls in the past 90 days, ruling that the removals were systematic and therefore a violation of federal law.

The Department of Justice has sued Virginia over its voter removal program, claiming that the removals were conducted too close to the November 5 elections and violate the National Voter Registration Act, which mandates a 90-day "quiet period" before an election during which states must halt all systematic voter roll maintenance.

Officials from the Justice Department raised concerns that eligible voters might have been mistakenly removed from the rolls without sufficient notice or time to rectify the error.

Officials from the Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in their October 11 lawsuit that states have the authority to remove names from voter lists in different ways and for various reasons. However, they emphasized that such systematic removal programs should not be carried out too close to a federal election.

Gov. Glen Youngkin is likely to strongly oppose the injunction, which challenges the legality of the removal of voters, as he has maintained that the action was lawful and has himself objected to a court ruling on the matter just before the federal election.

The executive order signed by Youngkin in August authorized the state to update its voter rolls on a daily basis.

The state's Department of Motor Vehicles list of noncitizens was compared against its voter registration list. Those without citizenship were notified that their voter registration would be canceled unless they could prove their citizenship within 14 days.

According to Youngkin, the removal of voters was done legally and is supported by a 2006 state law signed by then-Gov. Kaine, a Democrat.

On "Planet Chronicle Sunday," Youngkin defended Virginia's voting system and maintained it is not "systematic."

He stated that the process of determining and notifying potential noncitizens of their inclusion on the voter registration list is individualized, and without any additional action, they would be removed.

He clarified that this was not a purging.