Judge approves settlement over rejected Virginia student voter registrations

A federal judge has approved a consent decree requiring Virginia election officials to accept certain voter registration applications submitted by college students, resolving a lawsuit that alleged students were being improperly denied registration over missing dormitory-related details.

The agreement, approved last week by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, bars election officials from rejecting otherwise eligible student voter registration applications solely because they omit information such as dorm room numbers, dorm names or campus mailbox numbers when those details are not necessary to determine voting precincts.

The lawsuit was filed in October by the NAACP Virginia State Conference and the Advancement Project against Virginia election officials shortly before the November 2025 general election.

The civil rights groups alleged that election officials in multiple Virginia jurisdictions had rejected or delayed voter registration applications submitted by college students living on campus because the forms lacked dormitory-specific information not required under Virginia law.



https://virginiamercury.com/2026/06/09/judge-approves-settlement-over-rejected-virginia-student-voter-registrations/