section_path: Background/Voter roll purges
section_name: Voter roll purges
paragraph_text: Voter roll purges
  
  Multiple Republican-led administrations removed voters from their states' voter rolls in the lead up to the election, which critics argued violates the National Voter Registration Act. In July 2024, 160,000 inactive or infrequent voters were removed from Ohio 's voter rolls. The Ohio chapters of Common Cause and the League of Women Voters threatened lawsuits against the state over the purge.
  
  In August 2024, Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia signed an executive order removing 6,303 voters suspected of being non-citizens from Virginia's voter rolls. In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Virginia Board of Elections and Virginia commissioner of elections over the voter purge, alleging that it violated the National Voter Registration Act. The suit also found a number of alleged non-citizens purged were actually citizens. District judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ruled that the removal was illegal, ordering the state to stop purging voter rolls and to restore the voter registration of more than 1,600 voters who had been removed. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals then upheld the order. The administration filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which sided with Virginia in a 6–3 decision along ideological lines, allowing the state to continue purging voter rolls.
  
  In August 2024, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced a process for purging 3,251 registered Alabama voters and referred them to the state attorney general's office for criminal prosecution. In September 2024, the Department of Justice sued Alabama for violating the National Voter Registration Act. In October 2024, district judge Anna Manasco ruled in favor of the Department of Justice, ordering the state to restore the voter registrations. Alabama secretary of state's chief of staff Clay Helms testified that 2,000 of the purged voters were legally registered citizens.
  
  Multiple Republican-led administrations removed voters from their states' voter rolls in the lead up to the election, which critics argued violates the National Voter Registration Act. In July 2024, 160,000 inactive or infrequent voters were removed from Ohio 's voter rolls. The Ohio chapters of Common Cause and the League of Women Voters threatened lawsuits against the state over the purge.
  
  In August 2024, Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia signed an executive order removing 6,303 voters suspected of being non-citizens from Virginia's voter rolls. In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Virginia Board of Elections and Virginia commissioner of elections over the voter purge, alleging that it violated the National Voter Registration Act. The suit also found a number of alleged non-citizens purged were actually citizens. District judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ruled that the removal was illegal, ordering the state to stop purging voter rolls and to restore the voter registration of more than 1,600 voters who had been removed. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals then upheld the order. The administration filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which sided with Virginia in a 6–3 decision along ideological lines, allowing the state to continue purging voter rolls.
  
  In August 2024, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced a process for purging 3,251 registered Alabama voters and referred them to the state attorney general's office for criminal prosecution. In September 2024, the Department of Justice sued Alabama for violating the National Voter Registration Act. In October 2024, district judge Anna Manasco ruled in favor of the Department of Justice, ordering the state to restore the voter registrations. Alabama secretary of state's chief of staff Clay Helms testified that 2,000 of the purged voters were legally registered citizens.