Roy questions DOJ over ‘coordinating’ with left-wing groups over lawsuits challenging state voter roll purges

FIRST ON FOX: A top House Republican questions Department of Justice of what he says is “apparent coordination” with left-wing civil rights groups over his lawsuits against two Republican-led states over efforts to remove non-citizens from its voter rolls.

“The Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government is overseeing apparent coordination between the Civil Rights Division and left-wing advocacy groups to impede states’ ability to ensure the accuracy of their voter rolls,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who is the chairman of the subcommittee, says in a letter obtained by Fox Digital.

The Justice Department sued Alabama and Virginia in recent months because of their measures to remove non-citizens from the voter rolls. The DOJ argued that states violated clauses that say states must complete their maintenance program no later than 90 days before an election under a clause known as the Quiet Period Provision.

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“This systematic voter removal program, which the state is conducting within 90 days of an upcoming federal election, violates the quiet period provision,” the DOJ said as it filed suit against Virginia.

Virginia has insisted that the state’s process is “individualized” and conducted in accordance with state and federal law. A lower court ordered 1,600 people to be put back on the voter rolls, but this was blocked by the Supreme Court.

The DOJ sued Alabama on similar grounds, alleging that changes to voter registration rolls occurred 84 days before Election Day.

“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama address voter confusion resulting from list maintenance mailings sent in violation of federal law.”

But Roy says the DOJ lawsuits came after lawsuits by left-wing civil rights groups. In the letter, Roy says the Sept. 27 lawsuit in Alabama came weeks after a Sept. 13 lawsuit by a coalition of left-leaning civil rights groups. The cases were consolidated on September 28.

In Virginia, a civil rights lawsuit was filed on October 7th, and the DOJ filed its lawsuit on October 11th.

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“The cases involve the same or similar plaintiffs and attorneys and follow a similar pattern in the timing of each complaint. These circumstances raise questions about whether the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is working with these groups to file cases to keep citizens voting. sign up right before the 2024 election and prevent states from ensuring that only eligible citizens vote in federal elections,” says Roy.

He also says the DOJ “has not opposed consolidating its cases with those filed by left-wing organizations and lawyers with a public history of opposing bipartisan efforts to prevent citizens from voting.”

Roy says many of the groups opposed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

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“The American people deserve to know if left-wing activist groups are dictating DOJ’s legal strategy regarding non-citizen voting in upcoming elections,” he writes.

Roy is requesting all documents and communications related to the lawsuits and any of the civil rights groups involved in the lawsuits, as well as documents showing whether the DOJ plans to bring any additional actions against the states.

Virginia received a legal victory this week when the Supreme Court halted a lower court’s decision to reinstate 1,600 potential non-citizens to the rolls. A divided court granted the state’s request for a stay pending appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

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The DOJ said in a statement Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruling, “The Department introduced this process to ensure that every eligible American citizen can vote in our elections. We do not agree with the order of the Supreme Court”.

Fox News’ Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.