Virginia Democrats Win the Vote of Felons with Constitutional Amendment

The proposed amendment would grant automatic voting rights to ex-criminals. This is part of an effort by the Left across the country to gain favor and earn votes from former criminals.

Virginia law currently states that criminals lose their right to vote permanently after a conviction for a felony. The governor must restore their rights. The House Democrats introduced as a bill that would immediately restore voting rights to all felons after they finish their prison sentences. The bill would have to pass both houses in two General Assembly sessions before it could be put on the ballot for November 2026.

has praised the amendment by Abigail Spanberger. She tweeted, “I am glad to see that the VA House of Delegates has moved forward with a constitutional amendement to restore voting rights for formerly incarcerated Virginians.” Later she called it “real progression.”

Jones, who is running for Attorney-General, introduced in 2021 a bill similar to his own that would restore felons’ voting rights ( HJ 546). He later voted on a similar bill which included the legislation he had proposed. Jones represented the left-wing NAACP in 2023. Jones argued to restore rights under the Youngkin Administration.

The amendment was also supported by other Democrats from competitive House Districts, including the radical anti-abortion minister Joshua Cole, Michael Feggans, Josh Thomas, and Nada Clark.

Mine for votes

The issue of felony re-enfranchisement, which is thorny and difficult to discuss, is rarely brought up by the Right.

Virginia has prohibited felons voting since 1830. In 1830, most states started restricting felons’ voting rights. Although leftists have called it a relic of Jim Crow, the concept of “civil deaths”–losing one’s civil rights for committing crimes–has its roots in much older Roman, Greek and English law. It is not always controversial. Very few people object when courts restrict the rights of those deemed mentally incapable to vote or live alone.

Re-enfranchisement, on the other hand, is a new hot “civil rights issue” that has only been adopted recently by the Left…and even then, it was done selectively. Top Democrats want to restore voting, but have attacked GOP efforts to reinstate felons’ rights to firearms. Numerous Democrats and litigation groups tried to prevent Donald Trump from returning to public office following his felony conviction in 2024, or remove him from the ballots of their states due false “insurrection charges”.

Restoration News has tracked the explosion of felon voter rights restoration initiatives that have been launched in blue states. This indicates Democrats’ desire to win over the ex-felons vote, which could be as high as 18,000,000 people. The failed House Democrats 2022 John R. Lewis Act also would have automatically granted voting right to all felons upon release.

Re-enfranchisement, like most of the Left’s election “reforms,” is the creation of professional activists from the Brennan Center for Justice. This radical group heavily funded through George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and Ford Foundation. These organizations have fought for years to pass laws that they think will increase voter participation, assuming high turnout results in Democrat wins.

In Maine, Vermont and District of Columbia, felons can vote while they are serving their sentences. This is the goal of these campaigns.

Leftist groups almost always want felons who are serving prison time to vote in their state of imprisonment, and not in the state where they were arrested. Many federal prisons in the south are conservative states, like Texas.

The push to restore felons’ voting rights could ultimately backfire against Democrats, as they may lose support from working class and minorities voters. Many of these voters are increasingly identifying with President Trump after his absurd criminal conviction during the 2024 election campaign. During the same period, assumptions about turnout are changing. Now, it is Republicans who benefit from a high turnout of low-propensity voter.

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