Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is being criticized for not supporting Virginia's successful efforts to purge noncitizens from the voter rolls.

The Supreme Court ruled last week to uphold Virginia's purge of voter registrations, which the state says is aimed at discouraging people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.

Previously, attorneys general from 26 states, all Republicans, backed a letter urging the Supreme Court to grant Virginia's emergency appeal and “restore the status quo.” Campbell has not filed as an amici curiae.

Campbell's critics slammed the Massachusetts attorney general for signaling her support for the Biden-Harris administration's lawsuit, which argued that election officials in Virginia removed names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.

Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for the regulator Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, criticized Campbell for not supporting Virginia's efforts to purge its voter rolls of non-citizens. He accused the attorney general of being a “friend” of the Biden-Harris administration who doesn’t stand up for Bay State residents.

“Non-citizens should not vote in elections and they should not be registered voters,” Craney said in a statement. “There are some who believe they should. Andrea Campbell should break her silence on this matter and protect the integrity of our voter rolls by joining amicus.”

Campbell's office did not immediately respond to a Herald request for comment Friday.

A federal judge previously found that Virginia illegally deleted more than 1,600 voter registrations in the last two months. According to federal authorities, this measure came after Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order in August.

A federal appeals court had allowed that judge's order to remain in effect, triggering an emergency appeal from Youngkin's government, which the Supreme Court granted last Wednesday.

Campbell served on the Boston City Council for six years. In her second term as council president in 2018, she led an initiative aimed at giving non-citizens the right to vote in the city's local elections.

“I want to have conversations about how non-citizens can fully participate and step out of the shadows to do this,” Campbell said at the time. “These residents generate millions in taxes that come from individuals deemed undocumented, DACA, legal permanent residents, and those with green cards.”

Last year, the City Council approved a Home Rule petition that would allow immigrants with “legal status” to vote in local elections out of fear that the move could jeopardize their path to obtaining full citizenship.

The specter of illegal immigrants voting has been a mainstay of the political messaging of former President Donald Trump and other Republicans this year, even though such voting is rare in American elections.

The National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” for voter roll maintenance before elections so that legitimate voters are not removed from the rolls by bureaucratic errors or last-minute errors that cannot be quickly corrected.

Only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in presidential and state elections.

Massachusetts GOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale told the Herald that she believes “protecting elections … should be a priority for all elected officials.”

“It is disappointing that the Massachusetts attorney general would not support straightforward efforts to ensure that basic constitutional protections are in place to ensure election integrity,” Carnevale said in a statement Friday, “and increase confidence that.” the vote is conducted safely and legally.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Originally published: November 3, 2024 at 7:18 pm EST