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Restoring Voting Rights to Felons on Case-By-Case Basis in Virginia

Don Rush

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's administration says it will move quickly to ensure thousands of felons hoping to cast ballots in November's election will be able to vote.

McAuliffe Spokesman Brian Coy said Monday that the administration expects by the end of this week to restore the voting rights of the roughly 13,000 felons who registered to vote under the Democratic governor's April executive order.

Virginia's Supreme Court struck down that order Friday, saying governors cannot restore rights en masse, but must handle them on a case-by-case basis.

Coy says the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office will process each felon's paperwork individually to comply with the ruling.

After those are completed, the administration says it will move on to the restore the rights of the other felons it has identified.

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.