Supreme Court Allows Virginia to Cancel Registration of 1,600 Voters Just Days Before the Election

Yesterday, in an unpublished ruling on its shadow docket, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Virginia to purge about 1,600 voters from the rolls less than a week before the 2024 presidential election. The court’s decision in Beals v. Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights comes despite clear language in the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) prohibiting systematic removals such as these within 90 days of an election.  

The voter purge is part of a broader effort to politically silence voters of color, including naturalized citizens. These flawed practices are not only unnecessary for ensuring accurate voter rolls but also risk disenfranchising many eligible voters.  

“Yesterday's decision is a continuation of this Court’s long, steady trend of dismantling voting rights protections that ensure everyone is heard equally at the ballot box,”

“Yesterday's decision is a continuation of this Court’s long, steady trend of dismantling voting rights protections that ensure everyone is heard equally at the ballot box,” said Phi Nguyen, Director of Democracy at Dēmos. 

“Protections like the NVRA are there for a reason. It is unconscionable that the Court is permitting a voter purge this close to an election, particularly when the purge is clearly part of the far right’s efforts to inject toxic, anti-voter and anti-immigrant narratives into our voting processes to disempower communities of color,” Nguyen said. “Potentially affected eligible voters should not let the purge dissuade them from participating in this election. Virginia is a same-day registration state, and voters can still register and vote at the polls.” 

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Dēmos is a non-profit public policy organization working to build a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy and economy. We work hand in hand to build power with and for Black and brown communities, forging strategic alliances with grassroots and state-based organizations.