JUST IN: Biden-Harris Hit With Major Lawsuit

The state of Florida hit the Biden-Harris administration with a major lawsuit on Thursday in response to what state officials say is an abdication of duty by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In several key states, including Arizona, Ohio, and Virginia, Republicans seeking to purge noncitizens from the voter rolls are at loggerheads with the Biden-Harris administration which is effectively overruling them, citing a federal law that prohibits amendments to voter rolls less than 90 days before an election. The lawsuit by Florida, first obtained by Fox News, indicates that state officials believe DHS is not being responsive to their requests when asking whether a registered voter is indeed a U.S. citizen. “Because the federal government is refusing to comply with these obligations and frustrating Florida’s ability to maintain the integrity of its elections, Florida files this suit,” the lawsuit says, adding the state “has an obligation to maintain accurate and current voter registration records” in light of millions of noncitizens crossing the border in recent months.

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Under current arrangements, states must rely on federal resources to verify the nationality of individuals using a DHS program called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE). Florida argues in the suit that it has evidence of non-citizenship for several individuals but cannot perform searches in the SAVE system because it does not have unique identifiers. A request for assistance sent to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was denied, it adds. “Thus, Florida has identified a subset of individuals for whom it cannot verify citizenship or immigration status through SAVE and for whom DHS refuses to verify citizenship or immigration status through other means,” the state says.

In a statement, Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said that the Biden-Harris administration has an obligation to help states prevent voter fraud in November. “Voting is a right granted to American citizens—not illegal immigrants or other noncitizens. The Biden-Harris administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country, and we must ensure that only citizens are on our voter rolls,” Moody told Fox. “I am taking legal action against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Mayorkas to ensure Florida is able to maintain the integrity of our state’s voter rolls.”

“The Florida Constitution is clear that only citizens can vote in our elections. Florida is calling on the federal government to dismantle the barriers blocking the states from obtaining critical information needed to prevent non-citizens from voting in our elections,” added Florida Secretary of State, Cord Byrd. “We are going to prevail in our effort to uphold the law and uphold the Constitution’s guarantee of one citizen, one vote.”

Florida is not alone in seeking to prod the federal government into action. Ohio, another Republican stronghold, recently sued the Biden-Harris administration on similar grounds, saying DHS is not doing enough to help state election officials verify that only U.S. citizens will be voting in November. Earlier this week, Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin ripped the federal government for suing to stop his administration from removing tens of thousands of noncitizens from the voter rolls.

Appearing opposite Jake Tapper on CNN, the first-term Republican governor explained that his executive order to purge illegal aliens registered to vote is merely his exercising of a law that has been on the books since 2006. “That was a law that was signed by then-Democrat Governor Tim Kaine,” Youngkin said. “And it requires our election process and governors to use RMV data when an individual self-identifies as a noncitizen. And there is a match with that person on the voter rolls to then notify that person that they have 14 days to affirm that they’re a citizen or not. And if they’re not they’re removed.”

The DOJ’s lawsuit alleged Gov. Youngkin, in following state law, violated the National Voter Registration Act, or NVRA, which requires additions or subtractions to a state’s voter rolls within 90 days of an election, according to CBS. Election experts told the outlet that the measure allows voters removed from the rolls to have additional time to appeal before Election Day. The DOJ is also suing Alabama for similar voter purges. “Governor Youngkin is correct that the Justice Department needing to sue a state like his so close to an election is ‘unprecedented,’ but that’s because no state has sought to violate this law before this year,” said David Becker, executive director of the Center of Election Innovation and Research and a CBS News legal contributor.

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