Federal law prohibits systematic voter purges in the 90 days before a federal election.
Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 92%
The NPR Politics PodcastSep 29, 2026
The National Voter Registration Act's Section 8 requires states to complete any program that systematically removes ineligible voters no later than 90 days before a federal election, and the DOJ, AP, Reuters and NPR sources all confirm this. The post's paraphrase matches the law, and the claim's wording is a faithful paraphrase of it.
What was said
… Because there are rules about, like, what states and election officials can do this close to an election, right? Yeah, that's a really great point, and it's really central to this whole conversation, because there is a law that says that you can't do systematic voter purges in the 90 days before a federal election. The Supreme Court noted that law in their recent decision allowing SAVE to be used while the case is still being litigated. They said SAVE could be used for individual voter investigations and removals. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The DOJ Civil Rights Division's NVRA guidance states that under Section 8(c)(2), systematic removal programs must be completed no later than 90 days before a federal general or primary election, and that systematic removal activity must cease.[4]
Supports. A federal judge blocked Virginia's removals as violating the federal prohibition on purging large numbers of voters in the 90 days before an election, as reported by Reuters.[1]
Supports. AP and NPR both report that existing federal law bars most states from systematically purging voter rolls within 90 days of an election.[2][6]
Context. The law has exceptions for individualized removals, such as at a voter's request, after death, or after a felony conviction, so the prohibition covers systematic removals rather than all removals.[3][6]
Context. Some Republicans and litigants have argued for reinterpreting the 90-day rule, and courts have continued to apply it, so the rule is contested in application but not in existence.[5][6]
Sources
6 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 1 tier 2
- 1Republican battleground-state legal blitz falters ahead of electionreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Supreme Court allows use of Trump's SAVE voter ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3Justice Department Suing Virginia for Removing Noncitizens from Voter Rolls?snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 4Civil Rights Division | NVRA List Maintenance Guidancejustice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 5Bennet, Padilla, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration ...bennet.senate.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 6Voter roll purges banned 90 days before federal elections - NPRnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The National Voter Registration Act limits major changes to voter rolls 90 days before an election.True
- The National Voter Registration Act prohibits states from systematically removing the names of ineligible voters from their rolls in the 90 days prior to any primary or general election.True
- A federal court decision allows states to use the SAVE database to purge voter rolls.Mixed
- In 2024, Virginia used the SAVE system to remove voters from registration rolls in the period before the election.True