Virginia governor to restore convicted felons' voting rights

Virginia governor restores voting rights for prisoners.

(Image credit: YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 23 April 2016

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is using his executive power Friday to sign an order restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 convicted felons. The order, which overturns a Civil War-era provision in the state's Constitution that McAuliffe says particularly targets blacks, will allow all felons to vote once they've served their prison time and finished parole. "There's no question that we've had a horrible history in voting rights as relates to African-Americans — we should remedy it," McAuliffe said. Currently, only two states in the U.S. — Maine and Vermont — don't restrict felons' voting rights.

McAuliffe's order, which was planned in secret, will likely upset Virginia Republicans and, according to The New York Times, could factor into the upcoming presidential election. Most of the felons whose voting rights will be restored are African-Americans, who tend to vote Democrat.