The Supreme Court is temporarily halting a lower court's decision that ordered the reinstatement of 1,600 voters on Virginia's voter rolls

The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to grant an emergency appeal from Virginia and temporarily overturn a federal judge's decision that ordered the reinstatement of hundreds of potential non-citizens to the state's voter rolls.

The decision is a victory for Gov. Glenn Youngkin and comes just days after the state of Virginia filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court seeking to stop a lower court decision ordering the names of about 1,600 people to be added to its voter rolls .

“We are pleased with the Supreme Court’s order today,” Youngkin told Fox News in a statement following the decision, which he called a “victory for common sense and electoral justice.”

“I am grateful for Attorney General Jason Miyares’ work in this crucial fight to protect the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens,” he added.

At the heart of the case is whether Virginia's voter removal process violates a so-called quiet period under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) or a federal law that requires states to stop all “systematic” voter roll operations for a period of 90 days before one Federal election.

26 REPUBLICAN ATTORNS GENERAL join Virginia in petitioning the Supreme Court to rule on voter rolls

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks at a news conference in Chalmette, Louisiana, on June 3. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

In that argument, the Justice Department, which sued the state over its eviction program earlier this month, pitted itself against Youngkin, who insisted that the state's process was “individualized” and conducted in accordance with state and federal law.

Justice Department officials reiterated their argument Wednesday following the Supreme Court's decision.

“The department filed this lawsuit to ensure that every eligible American citizen can vote in our elections,” they said in a statement to Fox News. “We disagree with the Supreme Court’s order.”

With just a few days until the election, the court's decision is likely to be under scrutiny.

Virginia's voter roll maintenance program was implemented in August and compares the Department of Motor Vehicles' list of self-identified non-citizens with the list of registered voters. Non-citizens were flagged and informed that their voter registration would be canceled if they could not prove their citizenship within 14 days.

The Justice Department argued that the deportations were carried out too close to the Nov. 5 election and violated the NVRA's respite provision, a decision supported by a U.S. judge in Alexandria who ordered Virginia last week to halt its deportations and reinstate the registrations of all 1,600 people removed.

Justice Department officials also raised concerns in their lawsuit that eligible voters may have been mistakenly removed from the rolls without adequate notice or enough time to correct the error.

YOUNGKIN VOWS TO APPEAL “TO SCOTUS” AFTER US JUDGE ORDERS 1,600 VOTERS TO GO BACK TO THE VOTE

In the state's petition to the Supreme Court, Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares objected to the lawsuit and the court's subsequent ruling on several grounds. First, he argued that the NVRA does not extend to “self-identified non-citizens” in the state – by a closer reading than the Justice Department and one that he believes could invalidate the primary basis of the lawsuit.

Second, he argued that if the NVRA does indeed apply, the state would still have an “individualized voter removal process” conducted by the Department of Motor Vehicles and directly by local registration offices.

Late Monday, the attorneys general of all 26 Republican-led states joined Virginia Filing an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court, supporting its contention that the deportation program was conducted on an “individual” basis and that the Justice Department’s view of the protections afforded under the NVRA is too broad and does not apply to noncitizens.

The Virginia Capitol in Richmond. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Lawyers urged the court to grant Virginia's emergency request and “restore the status quo,” noting that doing so would be “consistent with the law and would enable Virginia to ensure that non-citizens do not vote in the upcoming election.” .”

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“This court should reject defendants’ efforts to change the rules mid-game and restore the status quo ante,” they wrote. “The Constitution leaves decisions about voter qualifications to the people of Virginia. And the people of Virginia have decided that non-citizens cannot vote.”

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