Appeals court keeps Virginia voter purge program blocked, setting up Supreme Court fight

(CNN) — A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a Virginia purge program aimed at culling suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls, leaving in place a lower court ruling that found the program likely violated a federal prohibition on “systematic” removals in the 90 days before an election.

The Sunday decision by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals sets up a Supreme Court fight over the purge program with early voting already underway in Virginia. Republicans all the way up to former...