Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkins (R) attempt to appeal a federal judges ruling that he was out of line when he purged 1,600 people from voter rolls which he said was an attempt to keep suspected noncitizens from voting failed at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over the weekend.

The appellate courts order was unanimous. Youngkin plans to appeal the decision immediately, a spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jason Mirayes said Sunday. The next step will be the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles decided last week to reinstate 1,600 voters to the rolls in Virginia. In August, just 90 days before Election Day, Youngkin issued an executive order that instructed the Department of Motor Vehicles to remove noncitizens automatically from voter rolls.

Giles found that this likely violated the National Voter Registration Acts 90-day quiet period, which prohibits sweeping, systematic changes or modifications to voter rolls before Election Day.

The Justice Department sued Youngkin to stop the purge after plaintiffs including the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the League of Women Voters of Virginia, the League of Women Voters of Virginia Education Fund, and African Communities Together had already launched their own lawsuit.

The cases were consolidated. Ultimately, both parties argued that the automated purge unfairly swept up eligible citizen voters thanks to errors on DMV forms that incorrectly labeled them as noncitizens. The voter advocacy groups also argued that the purge was discriminatory, but Giles has not reached a decision on that specific claim.

Giles ruling last week in no way ordered noncitizens to be put onto voter rolls. Instead, it found that Virginia had simply failed to present any evidence backing its decision to cancel registrations for the 1,600 voters. Attorneys for the commonwealth only provided the names and addresses of people impacted by the purge to the court, but whether they were actually noncitizens was unproven.

Giles ruling made clear that noncitizens can be removed from voter rolls during the quiet period but those decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis. Doing this gives voters and election officials alike an opportunity to remedy any errors.

Though Sundays decision largely upheld Giles ruling to reinstate voters, the appeals court stopped short of enforcing another element of Giles order. The judge had directed Virginia officials to educate local officials, poll workers and the general public about the ruling and to conduct a tracking of poll worker training in 95 counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth.

While the Fourth Circuit said it appreciated this approach and the careful work being done by election officials in such an abbreviated window, this proposed notification and education method wasnt made totally clear by the judge and threatened undue confusion in its implementation.

Legal scholar and Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck wrote Monday in his legal analysis blog One First that he suspects the Supreme Court will deny Youngkins bid to reinforce his executive order. Given the divisive political climate and dissemination of near-constant and false claims from Donald Trump and other Republicans that noncitizen voters will overwhelmingly decide the 2024 election, Vladeck said that even if the Supreme Court rejects Youngkin, the public may see some form of dissent from the justices put on the record.