The effort to enshrine automatic restoration of rights into Virginia's constitution successfully passed this year's legislative session today.The amendment must pass again in next year’s legislative session before heading to the ballot for a statewide vote in November 2026.

"Protecting Virginians’ rights will require amending Virginia’s constitution. Today was the first step of this legislative session in a multi-year process, one that will culminate in Virginians themselves voting on whether to enshrine core civil rights safely out of reach of partisan politics."

“Every eligible individual should be able to access the right to vote in order to participate in democracy that affects every aspect of their lives.” said Sheba Williams, Founder and Executive Director of Nolef Turns Inc.

“Enshrining our civil rights and civil liberties in Virginia’s constitution would mean no matter what happens at the federal level, Virginians’ rights would be as secure as possible," said ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer. "We’ll be working to do just that with three constitutional amendments."

“The results of yesterday’s election are clear, and so is the threat to our democracy that a second Trump presidential term represents," said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer. "We’re ready to fight any attack on these rights with the full force of the ACLU of Virginia."

“Virginia may no longer be a Confederate state, but the provision of our constitution that was specifically put in place to suppress the voting rights of Black citizens after the Civil War is still oppressing Virginians today," said ACLU of Virginia Senior Supervising Attorney Vishal Agraharkar.

"This election was a critical step to protect Virginians’ civil rights and civil liberties, and a clear repudiation of attempts to roll them back," said ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer.

“Virginia governors have historically restored Virginians’ voting rights – not removed them," said ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer. “No administration should get to pick and choose who gets to vote, and that includes this one." 

The Virginia Department of Elections released its Annual List Maintenance Report last week detailing the cancellation of the voting rights of 17,368 Virginians convicted of a new felony after their voting rights had been restored.