Virginia governor restores right to vote to thousands of ex-felons

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced Monday that almost 13,000 former felons in the state have had their right to vote restored.

"Restoring the rights of Virginians who have served their time and live, work, and pay taxes in our communities is one of the pressing civil rights issues of our day," he said in a statement. "I have met these men and women and know how sincerely they want to contribute to our society as full citizens again." In Virginia, like the rest of the United States, the ex-felon population is disproportionately African-American.

After McAuliffe announced in April an executive order restoring voting rights to all 206,000 Virginians who had finished their prison sentences, parole, and probation, state Republicans sued, saying McAuliffe was trying to help his friend Hillary Clinton secure more votes. Last month, the state Supreme Court ruled that McAuliffe's order was unconstitutional, and he did not have the authority to issue a blanket rights restoration order, NBC News reports. McAuliffe then said he would restore rights individually to all eligible Virginians, and the first 13,000 are people who registered to vote after their rights were restored by the original order. Because of the Supreme Court ruling, the people re-enfranchised must register to vote for a second time, and McAuliffe said the state will notify those residents. Earlier this year, Maryland restored voting rights to all felons no longer in prison.

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