Democrats are fighting to make elections less secure in multiple key states just days before the Nov. 5 election.
Election legislation has already been a focal point of the 2024 campaign, especially as the Republican National Committee (RNC) beefs up its election integrity department, but the battles are set to continue beyond Nov. 5. In the weeks leading up to the election, Democrats have signed legislation prohibiting voter identification while Biden-Harris’s Department of Justice has sued Alabama and Virginia for attempting to take illegal immigrants off their voter rolls.
“What’s so bizarre about that lawsuit, the two lawsuits that DOJ has filed … that is the exact opposite of what DOJ should be doing, it is a criminal violation of federal – in fact, it’s a felony for an alien to register to vote,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow focusing on election integrity at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller.
“And so what the DOJ ought to be doing is going to Virginia and saying, ‘can you please give me the files of each of these voters so we can investigate and potentially prosecute them?’ And no, instead, they’re saying, ‘no, you have to keep on the voter rolls aliens who are breaking federal law,’” von Spakovsky continued.
In August, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order to make the state more frequently remove noncitizens from the voter rolls. The DOJ then moved to sue the state on Oct. 12, alleging that the Virginia State Board of Elections had violated the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which states that voter rolls may not be cleaned up 90 days before an election. Biden’s DOJ further claimed that the executive order, signed 90 days out from Nov. 5, produced a “systemic removal” which can apparently cause voters to be confused and affect eligible voters. (RELATED: GOP States Remove Thousands Of Noncitizens Off Voting Rolls As Election Day Nears)
It’s stunning that, just 11 days before the presidential election, a federal judge is ordering Virginia to reinstate individuals who have self-identified as noncitizens on the voter rolls. Virginia is prepared to take this to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed! pic.twitter.com/fyjlWBUlnQ
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 25, 2024
Similarly, Alabama was sued by the Biden-Harris DOJ after Secretary of State Wes Allen identified 3,251 registered voters that had been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security and sought to remove them from the rolls. The DOJ alleged that, like in Virginia, it was too close to election day.
“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama redress voter confusion resulting from its list maintenance mailings sent in violation of federal law.”
In Virginia’s case, Biden-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Giles issued an order blocking Virginia’s efforts to remove the estimated 1,600 individuals that the state believes have “self-identified” as noncitizens. On Sunday, the Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said he would be filing an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court in response.
A Trump-appointed judge sided with the DOJ in Alabama and ordered the state restore the voters who they had taken off the voter rolls as a result of Allen’s order.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott previously announced that his administration had purged more than 6,500 noncitizens from state voter rolls. The cleaning of the voter rolls is a result of a 2021 bill Abbott signed into law which instated numerous election security measures like uniform statewide voting hours, banned drive-through voting and gave more power to poll watchers.
“I was surprised they haven’t sued Texas yet. Texas also announced that he did take 6,500 aliens off the voter roll. I’m expecting Texas will get sued by DOJ also,” von Spakovsky told the Caller.
🚨BREAKING — BIDEN-HARRIS DOJ SUES TO KEEP ILLEGALS ON VOTER ROLLS
Yesterday, the Biden-Harris DOJ sued the State of Alabama for fighting to remove potential noncitizens and illegal aliens from their voters rolls ahead of the 2024 election. pic.twitter.com/i2XE9i5sGv
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) September 28, 2024
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law on Sept. 29 that prohibits local governments from requiring identification to vote. The legislation was brought forward by Democratic state Sen. Dave Min after a ballot measure was presented in Huntington Beach that would require identification at the polls, according to Politico.
“Forbidding, actually forbidding it. The state has no ID requirement, and yet, when one town said, ‘Well, we really want to do this,’ they pass a law preventing that from happening. In general, every time states have tried to clean up their voter lists to take off people who have died and moved away, Democrats sue them so they want inaccurate voter lists,” von Spakovsky told the Caller.
The early voting blog is updated!
Rs have added 2K to lead, which is now 31,000, or 5%. GOP surge slowed a bit Saturday, but Republicans still gained.
Dems need to decisively win indies to make this a late Election Night.
Down-ballot update, too!https://t.co/Pl43XBMcPA
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) October 27, 2024
About a week out from the election, political experts have started to discuss what the aftermath of a Trump victory could look like. From protests, to lawfare, to security concerns, the Daily Caller spoke to a variety of experts who predicted a dangerous and extreme response from Democrats if Trump wins. (RELATED: What Happens If Trump Wins?)
Von Spakovsky told the Caller he expects Democrats to claim voter suppression through lawsuits following a Trump victory. Mike Davis, a Trump-aligned lawyer and founder of the Article III Project, explained that even if Democrats prepare to sue, the state of election integrity is not close to what it was in 2024.
“President Trump learned his lesson from 2020 … He has hired a very good legal team led by David Warrington on his campaign, along with a very good legal team led by RNC Chairman Michael Whatley,” Davis told the Caller.
“That was the mistake in 2020: they didn’t get injunctions … They’re doing it this time,” Davis added, explaining that the RNC legal team has been far more proactive in the 2024 election cycle.