Virginia GOP governor admits to 'mistaken removal' of 3400 voters from rolls on eve of statewide election

Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin's office admitted Friday that it mistakenly removed roughly 3,400 registered Virginia voters from state voter rolls with just a week to go before the commonwealth's legislative elections.

The voters removed were all convicted felons who had since had their voting rights restored, but violated the terms of their probation agreements. The computer software Virginia uses for its voter registration database mistakenly logged the probation violations as new felony convictions, which in turn stripped those individuals of their status as registered voters. According to the Washington Post, local elections officials have since corrected the mistake, reinstating all but "approximately 100" voters.

Initially, Youngkin's office pegged the number of voters affected by the computer error at 270. But Aaron Mukerjee, voter protection director for the Democratic Party of Virginia, told the Post on Sunday that the administration underestimating the voter purge by such a large number amounted to "weaponized incompetence."

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"First they said it was not a problem at all. Then they said it was a small, very contained problem. And now we’ve learned it’s a massive problem," Mukerjee said. "I think it goes to the point that this administration can’t be trusted with the voting rights of Virginians."

Virginia NPR affiliate VPM first raised the issue in September, reporting that a Democratic state senator was calling on the state to investigate whether any of the voters removed from the rolls had been taken off due to a new felony conviction or because of a probation violation.

"You're only convicted of a felony when you go out and commit a new crime, and you're found guilty by a judge or a jury,” state senator Scott Surovell said. “That's not what a probation violation is. And it has nothing to do with voting and shouldn't enter into the voting equation in any way whatsoever."

While convicted felons in Virginia permanently lose their right to vote, run for office, and serve on juries unless they have their rights restored by the governor. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, Virginia's restrictions on formerly incarcerated felons are among the strictest in the nation.

READ MORE: Why Glenn Youngkin's 'political brand' is in jeopardy in Virginia: report

Virginia's state legislative elections will be held on Tuesday, November 7. According to Ballotpedia, Democrats hold a slim majority in the state senate, holding 22 seats out of 40 (Republicans hold the other 18). In the 100-member House of Delegates, Republicans hold a slim 48-46 majority, and six seats are currently vacant. Gov. Youngkin, for his part, is prohibited by the Virginia constitution from running for a second consecutive term.