Virginia does not have to restore the registrations of 1,600 voters, some of whom appear to have been wrongly removed, ahead of next week’s election, the US supreme court said on Wednesday.

The court made the decision on its emergency docket and did not give a rationale for its decision, which is customary for rulings on an expedited basis. All three liberal justices on the court – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – said they would not have halted a lower-court ruling earlier in October ordering the state to restore the voter registrations.

The legal dispute centers on a 7 August executive order by the Virginia governor, Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, directing the state to run its voter registration rolls against DMV data on a daily basis to check for non-citizens. The justice department and civil rights groups sued, saying that the state was violating a federal law that prohibits systematic removals of voters within 90 days of a federal election.

  • @killea
    link
    187
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    That is… unadulterated plain and simple clear as day election interference. If I didn’t know better I’d say our whole system is in collapse.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      323 months ago

      When Kris Kobach was able to go through Kansas voter rolls and remove “foreign sounding” names with no real consequences, I knew it would start a trend. Here we are.

      Given this ruling I wonder what other voter registration purges we will see this week.

      I’m tired.

  • DominusOfMegadeus
    link
    fedilink
    1463 months ago

    The Supreme Court just straight up violated Federal Law. I’m floored right now. Just absolutely floored. I thought this was SO clear-cut, that even THIS court could not possibly justify a ruling like this. What…what do we even do at this point?

    • Jolly Platypus
      link
      fedilink
      English
      53
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      Soap Box

      Ballot Box

      Ammo Box

      or something along those lines.

      They’re taking the ballot box.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      133 months ago

      Technically they didn’t make a ruling. They stayed the injunction. My favorite part is that the majority offered absolutely no justification for the decision.

      • @Maggoty
        link
        63 months ago

        They usually don’t for an off schedule fast ruling. But that also means they knew they wouldn’t need to explain themselves.

  • Funderpants
    link
    fedilink
    1293 months ago

    Actual election interference, unlike the fake election interference Trump claims.

  • Jolly Platypus
    link
    fedilink
    English
    86
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    SCOTUS is irredeemably corrupt. Do you want a civil war? Because this is how you get a civil war.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      253 months ago

      I’m pretty sure they have openly said the do. They are absolutely trying to insight a civil war.

      • @InverseParallax
        link
        English
        93 months ago

        No they don’t, bullies believe they will never need to actually fight because everyone else is weak which is why they’re the best.

        • Jolly Platypus
          link
          fedilink
          English
          93 months ago

          The thing about these losers cosplaying as soldiers with their AR-15s is they always talk about how they have 10x as many guns as the rest of us. So. Fucking. What. We all have the same number of trigger fingers.

          People forget that when a liberal picks up a gun they god damn mean it.

          It was liberals that freed the slaves. It was liberals that founded this country. It was liberals who beat the Nazis. It was liberals who kicked their traitor asses the first time.

          Keep pushing, conservatives. We’ll give you a war you won’t believe.

          • @InverseParallax
            link
            English
            3
            edit-2
            3 months ago

            So 2 points:

            1. I am not a liberal, I am a moderate who just has a sense of morality

            2. If the rednecks come, I will not pick up a weapon. I worked on drones for a living.

            What they don’t understand is that not everyone is as proud of their ignorance as they are. It’s 2024, a gun is basically a loud stick compared to the tech we actually can have.

            • Jolly Platypus
              link
              fedilink
              English
              8
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              I’ll just leave this here. Here are definitions of liberalism from Merriam Webster:

              1. “inclination to be open to ideas and ways of behaving that are not conventional or traditional”
              2. “a political philosophy based on belief in progress and stressing the essential goodness of the human race, freedom for the individual from arbitrary authority, and protection and promotion of political and civil liberties”
              3. “a political philosophy based on the belief that freedom of the individual is paramount and that government’s role should be largely limited to protecting that freedom”
              4. “a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard”

              As opposed to fascism (today’s Republican party):

              1. “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition”

              A moderate is a liberal if they still believe in traditional free markets, individual liberty, democracy, and civil rights.

      • JackFrostNCola
        link
        English
        13 months ago

        Agreed, there is a civil war in sight

  • @raynethackery
    link
    663 months ago

    We’re done. Someone turn the light out.

    I won’t survive a civil war. I’m in my early fifties, overweight, have other health issues, have never held a gun, and don’t have any particularly special skills or training that would allow me to emigrate. I’m sure I’m not the only one with these kinds of issues. Everything for me is in this country. I vote and am in a deep blue state but if violence tears us apart, I’m not sure what I could do.

    I fucking hate all the people that think they are better off in a dictatorship. God is not coming back because he was never hear in the first place. But assuming I am wrong, how arrogant of you to think you could force his hand and accelerate his return. Also, the height of arrogance to think you would be “Raptured.”

    • @horse_battery_staple
      link
      203 months ago

      In the American revolution only one third of the population contributed to the war effort, a much smaller subset actually took up arms.

      The Civil War, only one tenth of the population fought.

      In any upcoming civil unrest, know that you’ll not need to fire a gun. Reach out to your local community. Talk to your neighbors. Mutual aid and collective security are what we need to fight fascists. Not necessarily guns.

      • @raynethackery
        link
        83 months ago

        Thanks for talking me down. I get overwhelmed sometimes.

        • @horse_battery_staple
          link
          4
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          You’re loved. Trust me you have a lot more to contribute than a capacity for violence.

          • @Twista713
            link
            23 months ago

            Beautiful stuff, y’all. Keep hope alive!

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      143 months ago

      Hang in there. I’m hopeful that the numbers seem to be trending back down towards small cult status. But a lot has to change, rapidly, if we get through this next election time stop this slide into hell.

      I always hoped we’d have a Star Trek type future minus World War 3, not Hunger Games being historically accurate.

    • @Maggoty
      link
      103 months ago

      You don’t need to emigrate. Look at the Ukraine war. Most people in the actual fighting areas didn’t leave until days before the Russians arrived. Although if that happens, a civil war is pretty much instant refugee status anywhere in the western world.

      Also, while SCOTUS has clearly cast their ballot, Virginia wasn’t a state on the Democratic party path to victory. So all is not yet lost.

      In the case it does happen and you’re not in a safe zone; what you need to do is pay attention, and be ready to move away from the fighting. Keep a go bag of all your documents, 72 hours of non perishable food, changes of clothes, and weather gear. Figure out what you need to walk, (I need a walking stick these days). The primary method of evacuation is usually walking because if you’ve waited too long then cars become targets. If you can’t walk then figure out the helper organizations. They will exist, they will give rides with drivers who voluntarily and often drive into the bad areas so they’ll have the experience necessary. If you have to shelter in place, plan to have weeks of non perishable food on hand. The Russians kept a 24 hour curfew in Bucha for over a week. It’s a war crime to do so, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

      Normally I would say follow all directions from soldiers of either side, but the Republicans have been open with some very violent tendencies. So I would hide from them and follow all instructions from friendly soldiers, no matter how weird they seem. (Walk on this path 50m to the left of the road being a common one for everyone’s protection)

      I sincerely hope you need none of this advice, we’re not there yet, but if it comes to an actual civil war you can survive.

  • @kmartburrito
    link
    653 months ago

    Thankfully Virginia has same day voter registration, so at least some of them will be able to re-register on the spot. I’m sure some will be impacted by not having identification, etc, but this is better than many states that don’t allow same day registration when voting.

    Still, fuck those asshats. Is so telling when you see people trying to take away one’s chance to have their voice heard.

    • @FlowVoid
      link
      English
      353 months ago

      You don’t need ID to register to vote in Virginia. You just need to fill out a form.

      You do need ID to actually vote, though. So bring it to the poll regardless.

    • partial_accumen
      link
      173 months ago

      Thankfully Virginia has same day voter registration, so at least some of them will be able to re-register on the spot.

      Will would-be voters be TOLD that or will they just be turned away because they are told they aren’t registered to vote.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        143 months ago

        … after standing in line for four hours.

        And how many of those won’t be able to get that time off work again or be able to get a babysitter again.

      • @kmartburrito
        link
        83 months ago

        It would hopefully go like this - “It doesn’t look like you’re registered, let’s do that now” but I’m not 100% sure.

  • magnetosphere
    link
    fedilink
    533 months ago

    “Virginia obviously fucked up, but whatever. We’re overruling the lower court anyway.”

    • @gAlienLifeform
      link
      433 months ago

      *obviously fucked up at something they’re not even allowed to attempt in the first place under the plain text of federal law, but whatever.

  • beefbot
    link
    fedilink
    533 months ago

    FTFY: Demonstrably unimpartial, conservative-stacked, publicly bribed court* rules in favor of the people who gave them money, to ensure they get more money.

    *except three of the nine members

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    453 months ago

    John Roberts’ SCOTUS. Never forget his crocodile tears as he flushed all legacy from the judicial branch.

  • @Maggoty
    link
    303 months ago

    Holy shit. That’s. I don’t have words. The entire reason for the 90 day period is to prevent fuck ups that stop citizens from voting. Fuck ups we already know have happened. They have 275 days a year to purge the rolls. And this fucking court is going to let them purge in the 90 day period?

    I’m not going to be surprised when a state like Virginia “accidently” purges 50,000 Democrats who voted in the last couple elections. Just enough to put the thumb on the scale and still call it an oopsie. This is yet another way they plan to make sure red states stay red. And why Trump says he’ll use the military. Because in any functioning democracy this would result in immediate riots.

    • @Burn_The_Right
      link
      413 months ago

      According to conservatives, people who don’t own real estate property shouldn’t be able to vote.

      • @GroundedGator
        link
        83 months ago

        And you get twice as many votes if you have kids. But only 1.6 times if any of your children have a parent that is an immigrant. And if both parents are immigrants your vote only counts as .6. If you have 5 white males you get 3x each.

      • @MeekerThanBeaker
        link
        83 months ago

        Then they should provide more housing instead of taking it away… but nooooooooo.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          113 months ago

          But then people would be able to vote and not be homeless which goes against their goals

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      93 months ago

      It’s the USA; you need to own a truck, a house, 30 acres of land, at least 70 pounds of firearms, stocks in no less than five companies, and at least one testicle to be eligible for citizenship.

    • @morphballganon
      link
      33 months ago

      DMV can still have data on you even if you’re unlicensed.

  • @Allonzee
    link
    25
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    You know what will happen if Harris wins decisively?

    The SCOTUS will say Trump won anyway, just like in 2000 when they were far less emboldened. And what they say will go again.

    And the feckless people will allow it yet again instead of justly rioting for having their voice silenced in the name of the profiteers our Federalist Society SCOTUS works for.

    I’m voting for Harris to say I raged against the dying of the light, but this country is over, because our people are beaten dogs more concerned with preserving the continuity of their fast food and social media capitalist opiates than being a society.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      5
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      If there was a strong unified labor force we could use general strikes and other collective action to fight back. I don’t know why the American left isn’t trying to organize something like this.

  • Tiefling IRL
    link
    fedilink
    223 months ago

    I wonder what would happen if 1,600 disenfranchised voters showed up at SCROTUS…

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    213 months ago

    Virginia has in person early voting up to 45 days before the election, it’s possible that someone who has already cast a ballot for this election could be removed from the voter registration.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      103 months ago

      Virginia isn’t really in play, and the number of votes in question won’t change that. I’ve got a bad feeling that this ruling was intended to serve a larger purpose than is immediately obvious. Perhaps a signal to state courts in other states? There is another shoe.

      • @Maggoty
        link
        3
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Wisconsin, Georgia, Montana, and Nebraska all have contentious races and Republican run election systems.

        Also this could be a sign they’re backing State Legislature Independence theory where the legislature is the sole controller of sending delegates, representatives, and senators to Washington.

    • @piecat
      link
      73 months ago

      So what happens then?

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        13
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        IANAL, but either the vote is counted or not counted, but it’s an absurd possibility showing that it’s too close to the election to be doing these purges. Hell a particularly evil prosecutor could probably charge someone with voter fraud.

  • Ricky Rigatoni
    link
    fedilink
    203 months ago

    This is what happens when your laws are determined by a council of god emperors.