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McAuliffe Directive May Give Sex Offenders Vote

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's order to restore voting rights to ex-felons may have included more than 100 sex offenders who've completed their sentences, but were deemed too dangerous to release.

The Washington Post  reports that Nottoway County Commonwealth's Attorney Terry Royall said Wednesday that the director of the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation informed her that 176 of its 370 residents meet the criteria for restoration and a database showed 132 had been restored. The center is a facility where these individuals can be sent through a civil court proceeding.

McAuliffe spokeswoman Christina Nuckols says the governor's executive order doesn't cover the facility's residents and specifically excludes anyone under supervised release.

Royall notes that the residents aren't under "supervised release." The order doesn't specifically exclude civilly committed people.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.