Shantae Martin still remembers the first time she voted at her grandmother's urging. She cast her first vote for Barack Obama.

Recently a big surprise arrived in the mail; A letter from election officials told Martin, 37, that her voter registration had been canceled because she was not a citizen.

Martin, a lifelong Virginian, was amazed.

“To be honest, I was confused. I was born and raised in Woodbridge, Virginia. So you know everything about me and now you're saying I'm an alien. “Why did you let me vote before and not now?” she asked in an interview with News4.

Martin is one of 1,600 Virginians whose voter registration was canceled after Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order Aug. 7 directing election officials to expedite the process of purging non-citizens from voter rolls.

In many cases, voters were disqualified because they checked a box or failed to check a box on a DMV form identifying them as non-citizens.

The Justice Department and groups representing immigrant communities filed a lawsuit saying the purge violated a federal law that prohibits purging voter registration so close to an election.

“So many stories have come out. These are US citizens. They are being denied their right to vote,” said Monica Sarmiento, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

This is Martin's story and why it is included in the lawsuit.

She got a new driver's license in the spring and suspects some mistake was made.

Both a federal judge and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the purge violated federal law and ordered all 1,600 voters reinstated.

Virginia asked the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an emergency stay to prevent the reinstatement of electors, writing: “States are free to systematically deny non-citizens, minors and fictitious persons at any time, including within 90 days of an election to remove from office.” Violation of the (National Voter Registration Act).”

A federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate more than 1,600 registered voters who were removed from voter rolls following Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order aimed at discouraging non-citizens from voting. News4's Julie Carey reports.

Local election officials are waiting for guidance from the state on how to reinstate court-ordered voters. They reminded voters that same-day registration is offered to all voters in the Commonwealth.

Martin said she hopes her willingness to share her experiences will help other voters whose registrations have been canceled.

“Someone has to uncover something. Something has to come of it,” she said.

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