In April, Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an executive order restoring the voting rights of some 200,000 former convicted felons who had served their sentences and are not on parole. Republican lawmakers sued and the state Supreme Court blocked McAuliffe's order because it had been done en masse instead of case-by-case. So McAuliffe got to work and has restored the voting rights of 13,000 of those former felons, one at a time.
"We’re not going to waste any time about arguing about the old Virginia way," McAuliffe, a Democrat, said while making the announcement at the Civil Rights Memorial on Capitol Square in Richmond.
"Let me put this in plain English: We will proceed," he said. […]
"The Virginia Constitution is clear,” he said. “I have the authority to restore civil rights without limitation."
McAuliffe today said he was restoring the rights of 13,000 felons after reviewing each of their cases individually and will continue to seek ways to provide the same rights to more felons, calling it "an issue of basic justice."
"I personally believe in the power of second chances," McAuliffe said.
McAuliffe intends to continue the process of reviewing each and every record, and will release the names of those who've had their rights restored on the 15th of every month.