Supreme Court Allows Virginia to Resume Voter Registration Purges

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume voter registration purges that the state says are aimed at keeping non-U.S. citizens from voting.

The judges granted an emergency appeal from Virginia’s Republican administration. The justices granted the state’s emergency appeal after a federal judge found that the state illegally deleted more than 1,600 voter registrations over the past two months. A federal appeals court previously allowed the judge’s ruling to stand.

Such voting is rare in U.S. elections, but the specter of immigrants voting illegally has been a central part of former President Donald Trump and other Republicans’ political messages this year.