Press Releases

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement after the Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia for unlawfully and systematically purging voter rolls within 90 days of an election:

“This week, I alerted the Department of Justice to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s daily, systematic purging of voter rolls in Virginia less than a month before the election. Today, I commend the DOJ for filing a lawsuit to stop those purges. Governor Youngkin’s effort to cancel voter registrations is, according to the Department of Justice, clearly against federal law, which requires states to refrain from systematically purging voter rolls within 90 days of an election. It brings with it the potential to unduly disenfranchise legitimate voters and is causing unnecessary confusion across Virginia.

Governor Youngkin’s voter purges are Trumpian politics at its worst. Voter fraud, particularly as it relates to citizenship, is exceedingly rare in Virginia. The Governor’s purges, on the other hand, have removed from the voter rolls thousands of lawfully voting citizens of the Commonwealth.”

Connolly wrote to Governor Youngkin on October 7 to urge him to cease the purging of voter rolls. Connolly also notified the Department of Justice of the purges.