ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — A federal judge on Thursday appeared poised to rule against Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s (R-VA) initiative to purge ineligible voters from state voter rolls, hinting that she may restore 1,600 voters that were removed over the past three months.

The case centers on whether Youngkin’s Aug. 7 executive order, which calls for daily voter roll removals based on Department of Motor Vehicles data, counts as an individualized process rather than a broad, systematic one. This distinction is key because the National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” before elections, during which systematic voter roll purges are not allowed, according to attorneys for the Department of Justice and individual plaintiffs.