> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.workersrights.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Virginia voters ended the state's lifetime voting ban for felony convictions. - URL: https://www.workersrights.news/virginia-voters-restore-voting-rights-felony-convictions/ - Published: 2026-11-04T19:26:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T19:26:11.000Z - Description: Question 3 passed with 56.5% (NBC). Rights now come back automatically instead of by asking the governor, ending a rule that dates to 1902. - Author: WorkersRights.News Team - Tags: Politics Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment that automatically restores the right to vote to people convicted of felonies, ending a system that for more than a century made them ask the governor for it back. Question 3 led 56.5% to 43.5% with about 97% of the expected vote counted, according to NBC News results. The Associated Press called the measure Tuesday night, Democracy Docket reported. Democracy Docket also reported that the amendment writes into the state constitution, for the first time, a fundamental right to vote for anyone who meets Virginia's voter qualifications. NBC News lists the measure as restoring voting rights "upon release." Under the old rules, a person convicted of a felony lost the vote for life unless the governor personally restored it. ### A Jim Crow rule, finally out Virginia's lifetime ban traces to the 1902 constitutional convention, where delegates set out to strip Reconstruction-era protections from Black Virginians, NPR reported. "The constitutional record from the early 1900s was clear in terms of the intent to disenfranchise Black electorate, using felony disenfranchisement to dilute Black political power," Nicole Porter, senior director of advocacy at The Sentencing Project, told NPR. Virginia was one of only three states that permanently took away voting rights this way, according to Democracy Docket. How many people got their rights back depended on who was governor. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) repealed a streamlined restoration process in 2023, which made it harder to apply. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) rebuilt the process after taking office and announced in August that she had restored the rights of 100,000 people. A federal court forced part of the change first. In January, U.S. District Judge John Gibney ruled that Virginia had been violating the Virginia Readmission Act of 1870, the law Congress passed when it let the state back into the Union after the Civil War. That law allows Virginia to take away the vote only for crimes that were felonies at common law in 1870. "For well over a century, the Commonwealth of Virginia has disobeyed a federal law designed to protect the right of former enslaved people to vote," Gibney wrote. The state then cut its list of disqualifying crimes to three: murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. About 235,000 people should have been able to vote all along, NPR reported. The ruling didn't restore anyone's rights automatically, and a court decision can be narrowed or reversed later. "Proponents of the amendment say voting rights need a more durable safeguard than a court ruling," NPR reported. Tuesday's vote moves the change into the state constitution. ### Who fought it, and who backed it The General Assembly approved the amendment in January, sending it to voters. State Sen. Mamie Locke (D) told NPR it declares that Virginia's democracy "belongs to everybody, even those who have been imprisoned and have served their time and are being reintegrated into society." Opponents argued restoration should stay case by case. "When an individual has broken the law and then gets to vote on the law after they've broken the law, in a serious manner, you know, there's this idea of should that person be able to automatically vote on something that they didn't really have much regard for initially?" Sandra Alcaide, a law professor at Regent University, told NPR. ### Why it matters for work Losing the vote in Virginia also meant losing the right to serve on a jury, run for office or work at the polls, NPR reported. Porter told NPR that people with past convictions who vote and have stable jobs and housing are less likely to return to prison. "Getting your right to vote back is not going to get you a job," Duane Edwards, a Virginia Organizing board member who served time in prison, told Democracy Docket. "But one thing that I've known from experience is getting my right to vote back did something for my confidence that I felt I can go get that job." Amber Bowman, 38, last voted about two decades ago before Spanberger restored her rights this year. "Why is it a life sentence in Virginia if you get a felony conviction?" she told NPR. Virginians also approved Question 1, a right to abortion (62.4% yes), and Question 2, removing the state's same-sex marriage ban (57.4% yes), NBC News results show. ### What comes next When the amendment takes effect, and how the state will tell people their rights are back, hadn't been reported as of Wednesday morning. Advocates have warned that many people leaving prison never learned they could get their rights back at all. "Most people we talk with don't even know that they can get their rights back," Edwards told Democracy Docket. Anyone in Virginia with a past felony conviction who wants to vote in the next election should check their registration status with their local registrar and re-register if needed. ### Sources - [Ballot Measures 2026: Live U.S. Midterm Election Results](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/ballot-measures?ref=workersrights.news), NBC News - [In victory for democracy, Virginia voters restore voting rights for ex-offenders](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/in-victory-for-democracy-virginia-voters-restore-voting-rights-for-ex-offenders/?ref=workersrights.news), Democracy Docket - [In Virginia, voting rights restoration is tough. A ballot measure could change that](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/05/nx-s1-5919612/in-virginia-voting-rights-restoration-is-tough-a-ballot-measure-could-change-that?ref=workersrights.news), NPR - [Judge rules Virginia unlawfully denied voting rights to hundreds of thousands](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-rules-virginia-unlawfully-denied-voting-rights-to-hundreds-of-thousands/?ref=workersrights.news), Democracy Docket - [Virginia ballot initiative seeks to finally clarify voting rights restoration for those with past felony convictions](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/virginia-ballot-initiative-seeks-to-finally-clarify-voting-rights-restoration-for-those-with-past-felony-convictions/?ref=workersrights.news), Democracy Docket