VA Dems demand 'immediate investigation' after voters mistakenly listed as felons purged from rolls
An unknown number of Virginia voters have been wrongly purged from the rolls after being mistakenly listed as felons, and Virginia Democrats are calling for the United States Department of Justice to take action.
Axios reports that Virginia Democrats have been hammering Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin after his administration "recently acknowledged it had incorrectly classified the voting status of some residents with felony convictions," thus leaving them ineligible to vote under Virginia state law.
"There must be an immediate investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into how this happened in the run-up to a very consequential election next month," Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) told Axios.
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The timing of the revelation comes at an intense political moment for Virginia, as Youngkin is looking to gain full Republican control of his state's legislature to push through measures including a 15-week abortion ban.
Shawn Wenta, policy strategist at American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, tells Axios that time is of the essence in getting this problem fixed.
"If they don't have this fixed tomorrow, there are going to be people that are showing up to vote who are not going to be registered, and are going to vote with a provisional ballot that might not get counted," she said.
For its part, Youngkin's administration has placed the blame on the Virginia State Police for giving the Department of Elections wrong information about the legal status of some Virginia residents.