RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Monday his administration will individually restore voting rights to thousands on ex-felons in preparation for November’s election.
This comes after the Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down Governor McAuliffe’s executive order to restore the voting rights of more than 206,000 convicted felons, saying it must be handled on a case-by-case basis.
“They said I had to do it individually, I’m doing it individually,” he said during a press conference Monday at the Democratic National Convention.
Friday’s ruling said the name of the voters who had their rights restored by the executive order will now have their names returned to a list of prohibited voters.
McAuliffe Spokesman Brian Coy said Monday they expect to individually restore the voting rights of the roughly 13,000 felons, who registered under McAuliffe’s executive order, by the end of this week.
Coy said the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office will process each felon’s paperwork individually to comply with the ruling.
“At the end of the day, I think actually more folks are now gonna register to vote because they will not let this injustice stand by,” McAuliffe said Monday. “I promise you this; you’re going to see that 13,000 number go up dramatically.”
