Court denies Virginia GOP’s challenge on felon voting rights

Virginia’s highest court on Thursday rejected Republican lawmakers’ latest challenge to Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s efforts to restore voting rights to thousands of felons who have completed their sentences.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe holds up the order he signed to restore rights to felons in Virginia at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, April 22, 2016. It came after McAuliffe said he had restored voting rights to nearly 13,000 felons on a case-by-case basis after the state Supreme Court blocked his blanket clemency effort.

“I am pleased that the Supreme Court has dismissed the case Republicans filed in their latest attempt to prevent individuals who have served their time having a full voice in our society”, he said.

The decision seems to finalize a court battle over just how the McAuliffe administration could go about restoring voting rights in Virginia, allowing the governor to move forward with a process that has already restored voting rights for more than 19,000 people.

McAuliffe’s office issued a statement in which he thanked Attorney General Mark Herring – who called the GOP motion “completely baseless” – for backing him in court. Throughout this process, our goal was to hold Governor McAuliffe accountable to the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

“The governor stretched the bounds of the Virginia Constitution and sought to expand executive power in a manner we viewed as inappropriate and reckless”, Howell said. Republicans argue that the governor simply wants to register voters for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the November 8 election. The court said governors can not restore voting rights en masse and must consider them on a case-by-case basis.

Del. Marcus Simon has introduced a proposal that would strip that language from the state’s Constitution.

Senate Republican Leader Thomas Norment has proposed automatically restoring voting rights for some non-violent felons.

Virginia Republicans had hoped the court would find McAuliffe’s new approach in contempt.

Simon’s proposal likely faces tough odds in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.