The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Republican officials in Virginia to revive a plan aimed at removing noncitizen voters from the rolls ahead of next week’s election.
The justices blocked a federal judge’s ruling that put the program on hold and required the state to restore 1,600 voters to the rolls.
The brief order noted that the three liberal justices on the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, all dissented.
“This is a victory for commonsense and election fairness,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who announced the plan in August, said in a statement.
“Virginians can cast their ballots on Election Day knowing that Virginia’s elections are fair, secure, and free from politically-motivated interference,” he added.
Civil rights groups, backed by the Biden administration, challenged the plan, saying it had led to some legal voters being removed from the rolls, too. The Justice Department said that while states can review its voter rolls, it cannot do so right before an election.
States are barred from systematically removing people from voters rolls within 90 days of an election under the National Voter Registration Act.
