Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vowed to make sure the presidential election in the commonwealth would be fair, safe and accurate in response to a lawsuit by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his efforts to remove noncitizens from its voter rolls.

The DOJ is suing Virginia for purging noncitizens from the voting rolls, which Youngkin vowed to fight during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday night. 

“The Department of Justice is suing the Commonwealth of Virginia because someone who self-identified as a noncitizen is being removed from the voter roll unless they prove that they are a citizen and affirm so,” Youngkin said. 

THOUSANDS OF NONCITIZENS REMOVED FROM VOTER ROLLS, DOZENS OF LAWMAKERS WANT ANSWERS FROM GARLAND

In the lawsuit, the DOJ is claiming that Youngkin violated the National Voter Registration Act with an executive order that required the election commissioner to regularly update the state’s voter lists to remove individuals who have been “identified as noncitizens” and did not respond to a request to verify their citizenship in 14 days.

Virginia has announced that it has removed more than 6,000 individuals between Jan. 2022 and July 2024.

In a memo obtained by Fox News Digital, the governor’s office called the DOJ’s move an “unprecedented lawsuit” that targets the state “for appropriately enforcing a Virginia law, signed by then-Gov. Tim Kaine in 2006, that requires Virginia to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls – a process that begins when an individual themselves indicates they are a noncitizen during a DMV transaction.”

“That bill was signed in 2006 and it requires us to use DMV data where people self-identify as non-citizens to then go through a process of removing them from the voter rolls if they’re on the voter rolls. And guess what? That’s exactly what we’ve been doing, it’s been happening for 18 years,” Youngkin said. “Democratic governors, even Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam, used this process all the way up through into October and that’s exactly what we’re doing in Virginia today.”

He explained that if an individual walks into the DMV and identifies themselves as a noncitizen, but are somehow, either by accident or by purpose, registered to vote and end up on the voter roll, they go through the process of notifying the registrar that if the person cannot affirm their citizenship in 14 days, they’re taken off the voter roll. 

“This is the process that the Department of Justice, 25 days before a presidential election, turns around and says: ‘You must stop doing this,’ and that is unbelievable to me,” Younkin said. 

ALABAMA ELECTION OFFICIAL SAYS BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDER GIVES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ‘MECHANISM’ TO REGISTER TO VOTE 

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“To me, this is unprecedented, and I think it represents a Department of Justice that is trying to achieve something other than fair and free elections,” he added.

Youngkin said Virginia removed 80,000 dead people from voter rolls in 2023 and, since he has been in office, there have been 6,300 circumstances where somebody walked into the DMV, identified themselves as a non-citizen and ended up on the voter roll. 

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

A local Democratic Party chair in North Carolina resigned this week after he was arrested for allegedly ripping out and stealing roadside signs supporting former President Donald Trump. 

Lowell Simon, the now former chair of the Moore County Democratic Party, who is also running for North Carolina House in November, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs. 

The Moore County Democratic Party announced in a Facebook post on Monday that 68-year-old Simon had resigned as chair “following recent allegations and arrest related to the theft of political signs.” 

The Moore County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy working in the West End area observed Simon removing campaign signs from the roadside along Seven Lakes Drive at approximately 5:25 p.m. Thursday. 

“The deputy, who was responding to an unrelated call at the time, later followed up at Simon’s residence, where the signs were found in his vehicle,” according to the office. “Simon admitted to removing the signs, which were then recovered and returned to their original owner.” 

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A warrant for Simon’s arrest was issued Saturday. He was released “under a written promise to appear in court,” according to the sheriff’s office, and his first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 30. 

“While we appreciate the hard work and dedication he has shown to the Democratic Party and the community, the Moore County Democratic Party cannot and will not condone the tampering of political signs or any other illegal activity,” the local party wrote on Facebook. “Mr. Simon has offered an apology for his actions, as well as his resignation, both of which have been accepted by the MCDP.”

WRAL, the outlet that interviewed Simon over the phone after his arrest, said the local chair complained that signs he had already placed in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein, the state’s current attorney general running against Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, were obstructed by new signs later set up in front of them that read: “Trump low taxes, Kamala high taxes.” 

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“My worse angels got the better of me and I removed the signs,” Simon said. “I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t do it in the stealth of night or anything. I did it when it was five o’clock in the afternoon.”

Former President Trump supporters hold up signs during a campaign rally at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame in Asheboro on Aug. 21, 2024. (Peter Zay/AFP via Getty Images)

“We believe in the importance of freedom of expression and speech, and hope that local law enforcement will continue to enforce such laws that protect those freedoms fairly and without bias across party lines,” the local party added. “As we move forward, our focus will remain on electing Democrats up and down the ballot in this critical election. Together, we are committed to promoting the values of justice, fairness, and freedom that our Party holds dear, and we look forward to building a better future for all in Moore County.”

Last week, Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields, a Republican, also issued a reminder to the public after Simon’s arrest “that the removal or theft of campaign signs is a violation of North Carolina General Statute § 136-32(e), which protects the lawful placement of these signs during election periods.” 

People living in western North Carolina mountain towns who are still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Helene are now dealing with a cold spell as they woke up to snow on Wednesday morning.

“The devastation around here is heartbreaking, but the thought of people with no power or damaged homes is just awful,” Waynesville resident Jeanne Tierney Vavruska told Fox News Digital, adding that she is concerned for her neighbors.

“We had literally been sleeping in our shed because of water damage, and it was so cold,” she added. “This was last week when the temperatures weren’t nearly as bad. I’m so grateful we only lost power for a couple of weeks and had a little water damage.”

Vavruska, originally from Florida, and her husband from Massachusetts started their move to the area in September 2023. They did not settle on their property until March of this year, meaning this will be their “first winter at 4,100 feet.”

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Fox Carolina issued a weather-related First Alert for the “coldest air of the season so far” on Wednesday and Thursday. The mountains were forecast to have feel-like temperatures in the 20s, raising concern for those still without power.

As a result, cold weather shelters opened in Buncombe County, where Helene swept away homes, cut power and destroyed crucial parts of the water system for Asheville, a city of about 94,000 people. The storm decimated remote towns and killed at least 246 people throughout the Appalachians, where massive cleanup efforts have been complicated by washed-out bridges and roads. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005.  

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Animals bundled up in the cold in Waynesville, North Carolina, on Oct. 16, 2024, following a dusting of snow. (Jeanne Tierney Vavruska)

As for Vavruska, she hopes those visiting the area realize there is still a lot of work to be done.

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Snow across a mountain property in western North Carolina less than three weeks after Hurricane Helene ripped through the area. (Jeanne Tierney Vavruska)

“The town is being put back together so quickly, I’m afraid people will forget that there is still a ton of devastation off of the main roads,” she said.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report.