Attorney general’s office fails to effectively implement historic ruling that ordered the restoration of voting rights to thousands of Virginians

RICHMOND, Va. – In response to the failure of the Virginia attorney general’s office to adequately prepare election officials to meet a court-ordered June 1 deadline to ensure thousands of Virginians with felony convictions can register to vote, ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Eden Heilman; Protect Democracy Counsel Jared Davidson; and WilmerHale Partner Brittany Amadi released the following statement:

“Today is the first day when thousands of Virginians with felony convictions should be able to finally begin to register to vote, but a court order restoring the right to vote and actually being able to exercise that right are two very different things. The attorney general's office has failed to give election officials the tools and guidance they need to quickly process newly enfranchised Virginians' registration applications—and instead instructed election officials to simply 'hold' prospective voters’ applications pending further information. Making matters worse, as far we can tell, the attorney generals’ office has done no outreach whatsoever to tell people who have been illegally disenfranchised that they may finally register to vote.

“By refusing to put effective systems in place to ensure formerly disenfranchised Virginians can immediately register, the Commonwealth is not only failing to meet today’s court-ordered deadline – it's further perpetuating the harm of this Jim Crow law that the court struck down six months ago. It is Black Virginians whose voting rights this racist law disproportionately stripped, and at a time when Black voters’ rights are already under attack nationwide, it is Black Virginians who will suffer the brunt of the Commonwealth’s inaction. It is confounding that instead of celebrating the chance to right a historic wrong, the Commonwealth is actively choosing to instead erect new hurdles in the way of voters’ path to the ballot box.”