On July 19, The Virginia Supreme Court will hear Virginia republicans’ arguments in the case of Governor Terry McAuliffe’s executive order to grant the rights of an additional 206,000 felons. Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit calling the governor’s executive order an overreach of power. The GOP contends that the rights restoration order was a blanket act but this not true. To be eligible for restoration of rights for felony offenses individuals must have completed incarceration, supervised probation and parole.
Republican lawmakers are suing Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Thomasson and members of Department of Elections and the State Board of Elections. In the petition, republican lawmakers want the highest court in Virginia to stop the executive order implemented on April 22, 2016. To date, over 5,000 ex-offenders have registered to vote since May 24, 2016
.
