Va. GOP lawmakers to sue over felons’ voting rights

RICHMOND, Va. — Republican lawmakers in Virginia will file a lawsuit challenging Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s decision last month to allow over 200,000 convicted felons to vote in November, GOP leaders said Monday.

Republicans argue the governor has overstepped his constitutional authority with a clear political ploy designed to help the campaign of his friend and Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton in the important swing state this fall.

“Gov. McAuliffe’s flagrant disregard for the Constitution of Virginia and the rule of law must not go unchecked,” Senate Republican Leader Tommy Norment said in a statement. He added that McAuliffe’s pred- ecessors and previous attorneys general examined this issue and concluded Virginia’s governor can’t issue blanket restorations.

GOP leaders did not say when they will file suit.

The pending legal fight highlights the important role Virginia will likely play in this year’s presidential contest. Clinton could benefit from a surge of new minority voters, who typically vote Democratic. Although, even if all the 200,000 ex-felons signed up, they would represent less than 1 percent of registered voters in the state.

McAuliffe has said the move was not politically motivated.

A lawyer for former Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine said in 2010 that the restoration of rights must be done on a case-by-case basis. A blanket order restoring voting rights would be a “rewrite of the law,” Mark Rubin, a counselor to Kaine, said in a letter at the time.

Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky and Florida are the only states that strip all felons of their voting rights for life unless a state official restores them, according to the Sentencing Project.

McAuliffe says people who have served their time should be given a second chance to exercise their civic duties. He also said he’s certain he has such authority after consulting experts.

The governor’s order enables every Virginia felon to vote, run for public office, serve on a jury and become a notary public if they have completed their sentence and finished any supervised release, parole or probation requirements as of April 22. In the future, the governor will act month by month to restore the rights of felons who complete all those requirements.