More than 200,000 convicted felons will be able to cast ballots in the swing state of Virginia in November’s election under a sweeping executive order by McAuliffe announced Friday that restores their rights to vote and run for office.
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Since assuming office in 2014, the governor has already taken steps to restore voting rights to 18,000 Virginians. The Governor said that politicians have always used their authority to limit the right everyone has to participate in their democracy.
McAullife added that he consulted with Attorney General Mark Herring and legal experts and was confident that the order was well within his authority as governor.
But McAuliffe told ABC News the decision has nothing to do with the election and that he thought it was the right thing to do as governor. McAuliffe said it disenfranchised the state’s Black voters. And that group is disproportionately African American – by the same data, more than three times the share of blacks (7.7 percent, or around 1 in 13) couldn’t vote. Credit: Mic ” I will sign an order restoring the civil and voting rights of every single individual who has completed his or her sentence as of this day”, he said at the conference. All but two states in the U.S. impose strict voting restrictions on people with felony convictions, and many extend those restrictions even to those who have completed probation or parole. A project called Revive My Vote launched a new online educational tool about how to vote in Virginia. As of 2010, the latest year for which data is available, 7.3 percent of Virginians could not vote because of felony convictions, according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit that advocates for sentencing reforms. “My message is going to be that I have now done my part”, he said.
“History shows when people are denied the right to vote, the loss of representation weakens our neighborhoods and communities, and furthers systemic inequality”, Brooks said in a statement.
House Speaker William Howell’s statement says McAuliffe is clearly changing the rules to “ensure Hillary Clinton’s victory”.
“The singular objective of Terry McAuliffe’s governorship is to elect Hillary Clinton President of the United States”. I want you voting, getting a job, paying taxes.
Whitbeck’s alleges that McAuliffe, Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign manager and former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is looking to curry favor with Virginia voters ahead of November’s Democratic primary.
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McAuliffe has made the restoration of voting rights and other civil rights a priority during his administration.
