Judge Looks Set to Weaken Virginia Felony Disenfranchisement Law

A judge signaled Thursday that he will likely rule to weaken Virginia’s felony disenfranchisement law, which would restore voting rights to thousands of Virginians with felony convictions*.

U.S. District Judge John Gibney, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ordered parties in the case to provide briefing on what the terms of an injunction against the law would look like, Vishal Agraharkar, an attorney with the ACLU of Virginia, told Democracy Docket in an email. His group represents the plaintiffs in the case.

“We are encouraged by how the hearing went and are optimistic for a favorable ruling,” said Agraharkar. “A victory for the plaintiffs would strike down a lingering relic of Jim Crow in Virginia and would prove it’s never too late to right a wrong. More importantly, it would restore the right to vote to our plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of additional eligible voters—including about 1 in 10 Black adults—who never should have been disenfranchised.” 

Residents with felony convictions in most states have their voting rights automatically restored after either their release or the completion of their sentence. Virginia permanently strips citizens of their right to vote unless the governor decides to restore it. As a result, it is the state with the fifth highest number of citizens disenfranchised for felony convictions, according to court filings.

The ACLU of Virginia, along with other counsel, sued the state in 2023 on behalf of three disenfranchised voters, arguing that the state is violating a Reconstruction-era law, the Virginia Readmission Act, which aimed to protect Black voting rights. The plaintiffs argued Virginia must restore voting rights for people convicted of crimes that “were not common law felonies when the Virginia Readmission Act was passed in 1870,” such as drug possession.

The Fourth Circuit ruled in part for the plaintiffs in December, concluding the litigation could continue, though the court dismissed the governor and secretary of state as defendants in the case on sovereign immunity grounds.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from state election officials to take the case.

A ruling would not apply to Virginians convicted of nine “common law” felonies – murder, manslaughter, arson, burglary, robbery, rape, sodomy, mayhem and larceny.

The ruling will not impact Virginia’s upcoming Nov. 4 election gubernatorial and legislative elections.

*This article has been corrected from an earlier version which relied on incorrect reporting by another outlet that the judge had ruled from the bench. In fact, no ruling has yet been issued.