Fairfax, VA –  Today the Fairfax County Republican Committee (FCRC) exposed more facts of noncitizen voting as the lawsuits against Governor Glenn Youngkin and the Commonwealth of Virginia are scheduled for a hearing Thursday, October 24, in U.S. District Court, Eastern District in Alexandria. Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles will hold a hearing on two lawsuits, one brought by the Biden Department of Justice and the other by the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the League of Women Voters, against the Commonwealth of Virginia for removing 6,303 noncitizens from the voter rolls. The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the program and a reversal of the self-cancellations for “eligible” voters.

The Fairfax County GOP commended Governor Youngkin for protecting the rights of Virginia citizens by removing noncitizens from the voter rolls in August, and points to more facts that noncitizen voting is an ongoing concern in Fairfax County. In addition to the 6,303 noncitizens who were removed from the voter rolls, largely due to self-identification as noncitizens, many thousands more noncitizens are likely still registered and could vote due to decisions made by Democrat administrations for over a decade and due to laws signed by the Democrat Governor Ralph Northam in 2020 and 2021. The facts on noncitizen voting in Virginia are as follows:

• Noncitizens have been voting in Virginia for years.  In 2011, Republicans on the Fairfax County Electoral Board notified the Obama Department of Justice that 278 noncitizens were listed on the county’s voter rolls.  Prior to removal, 42%, or 117 of those noncitizens, had voted in one or more elections.

• Per the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT), hundreds of noncitizens have registered and then voted in Virginia’s elections.  According to a nonpartisan nonprofit analysis, of the 1,973 self-declared noncitizens removed from May 2023 to June 2024, more than 20%, or 399 noncitizens, had cast ballots in one or more previous Virginia elections. Since 2013, ELECT has cancelled more than 13,500 voter registrations after these individuals self-declared as noncitizens.

• Limited Duration Driver’s Licenses (LDDLs), which are issued to noncitizens with legal presence documents, are now an acceptable form of voter ID, according to the Voter ID Chart provided to General Registrars by ELECT. Prior to September 2024, LDDLs were listed as an unacceptable form of ID for voting purposes. In the last 6 years, the DMV has issued approximately 450,000 LDDLs.
• Virginia also provides Driver Privilege Cards (DPCs) to noncitizens lacking legal presence documents, and DPCs are required by law to be identical to LDDLs.  Additionally, both DPCs and LDDLs are designed to resemble regular driver’s licenses issued to U.S. citizens, making it difficult to distinguish them if presented as voter IDs.  Unlike LDDLs, DPCs are not deemed acceptable IDs for voting. Since 2021, DMV has issued approximately 123,700 DPCs.

•  In 2020, Virginia became an Automatic Voter Registration state (24.2-411.3) by which legally-present noncitizens obtaining LDDLs were given the opportunity to register to vote.

• Since 2013, DMV was legally mandated to provide ELECT with all legal-presence document numbers provided by DMV customers.  From 2013 to May 2023, DMV failed to provide any document numbers to ELECT, and ELECT did not request the data. Only recently has DMV provided document numbers which are necessary for ELECT to use SAVE.

• ELECT has had the ability to use the DHS USCIS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to verify the citizenship status of legally present voter registrants since 2014, but ELECT failed to use SAVE until September of this year, claiming it was unreliable.  Yet DMV is mandated to use SAVE to issue official driving credentials and IDs, and numerous state benefit granting agencies (including those responsible for food stamps, Medicaid, TANF, refugee assistance, and unemployment insurance) are also mandated to use SAVE.

• ELECT and general registrars do not verify the social security numbers (SSNs) of non-DMV voter registrations with the Social Security Administration. For these registrations, SSNs are not even checked to ensure the numbers match to the holder’s correct name and date of birth.

“Over time, the DMV and ELECT have developed practices and procedures that enabled thousands of noncitizens to register to vote,” said Katie Gorka, Chair of the FCRC. “The result is that hundreds have apparently voted illegally in our elections. These facts should alarm every Virginia citizen.”

Gorka further stated, “Governor Glenn Youngkin was right to issue an Executive Order to begin to mitigate these problems and apply the rule of law. We commend him for working to restore the integrity of the Virginia voter rolls, and we encourage him to stand strong in the face of these unwarranted attacks by the Biden DOJ and other organizations. Most importantly, we encourage all Virginia citizens to vote this year in order to protect our voting rights.”

Documentation is provided here.

To contact Katie Gorka, Chairman of the FCRC, write to chairman@fairfaxgop.org