The Virginia law allowing election officials to remove people from voter rolls if they are listed as noncitizens has led to controversy, but it was once a politically neutral issue.
The Virginia law allowing election officials to remove people from voter rolls if they are listed as noncitizens has led to controversy during this election cycle, but it was once a politically neutral issue.
John Aughenbaugh, a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the law was championed by Ken Cuccinelli, who was then a Republican state senator and later became attorney general.
It was signed into law in 2006 by Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine.
“It was basically a bipartisan measure,” Aughenbaugh said.
Even though the law has been on the books for nearly 20 years, this is the first time it has become so contentious.
“In part, the reason why it became an issue is that the Biden administration became very skeptical of states purging their voter rolls in the aftermath of what Georgia did after the 2020 presidential election,” Aughenbaugh said.
