Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares argued that keeping noncitizens on the voter rolls would violate common sense and harm the state's sovereignty.

Critics, including civil rights groups and the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, contended that the state's removal process erroneously targeted eligible voters, including those who had recently naturalized.

Supporters of the program, including Republicans and former President Donald Trump, argue that it is essential for preventing noncitizens from voting, while opponents claim it risks disenfranchising eligible citizens.

Despite the controversy, Virginia's same-day voter registration policy allows individuals who were wrongfully removed to re-register and vote on Election Day, November 5, 2024.

The controversy surrounding Virginia's voter registration practices began with an executive order from Governor Glenn Youngkin in August 2024, which mandated daily checks against DMV data to identify and remove non-citizens from voter rolls.

On October 30, 2024, the Supreme Court allowed Virginia to resume its voter registration purge, aimed at preventing non-U.S. citizens from voting, despite dissent from three liberal justices.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles previously ruled that while individual removals could occur, a systematic purge was not permissible, as many individuals removed were U.S. citizens whose citizenship statuses had not been verified.

Judge Giles ordered the state to restore the purged registrations and notify affected voters by the end of the day on October 30, 2024.

This initiative faced legal challenges after a federal judge ruled that Virginia had illegally purged over 1,600 voter registrations in just two months, a decision that was upheld by a federal appeals court.

While noncitizens are prohibited from voting in federal elections, documented cases of noncitizen voting are rare, raising questions about the necessity of such aggressive purging measures.

Virginia's state attorneys appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that federal law prohibiting election-eve purges did not apply to noncitizen removals, invoking the 'Purcell principle' against federal court intervention close to elections.