VA: Virginia Governor Enables 200,000 Felons to Vote in November

[Gass3268]

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http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/virginia-governor-enables-200-000-felons-vote-november-n560556?cid=sm_tw

FF!

[Gass3268]

Basically he shifted Virginia from Pink to Orange on that map. Also Maryland recently shifted from Orange to Yellow.

[RFayette 🇻🇦]

[Landslide Lyndon]

Terry McAulliffe is one of the best governors in the country.
Maybe progressives who dismissed him as a DLC centrist beholden to big business should pause for a minute and think about it.

[swf541]

Terry McAulliffe is one of the best governors in the country.
Maybe progressives who dismissed him as a DLC centrist beholden to big business should pause for a minute and think about it.

Have to say, I do agree with you on this

[Orser67]

Good move. People shouldn't be denied lifetime voting rights because of a felony, especially given the racial implications.

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Hopefully Democrats can win the 2018 Florida and Iowa gubernatorial races and institute similar reforms.

[Torie]

On to the courthouse.

[Virginiá]

Well, I think it's clear he's doing this to help Democrats in November. However, he's doing something that should be done regardless, and so with that in mind, I don't really care why he does it, as long as he does it. Felons should not have their voting rights taken away at all, and Virginia's practice of disenfranchisement for life is just terribly wrong and has been used for too long as a way to disenfranchise minorities.

Thank you McAuliffe

On to the courthouse.

You mean in terms of Republicans suing because of "executive overreach" or something?

[elcorazon]

Yes. An excellent improvement in a poor law.

[Dr. Arch]

Good move. People shouldn't be denied lifetime voting rights because of a felony, especially given the racial implications.

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Hopefully Democrats can win the 2018 Florida and Iowa gubernatorial races and institute similar reforms.

Wisconsin too please.

[Sic Semper Fascistis]

Beautiful.

[Torie]

Well, I think it's clear he's doing this to help Democrats in November. However, he's doing something that should be done regardless, and so with that in mind, I don't really care why he does it, as long as he does it. Felons should not have their voting rights taken away at all, and Virginia's practice of disenfranchisement for life is just terribly wrong and has been used for too long as a way to disenfranchise minorities.

Thank you McAuliffe

On to the courthouse.

You mean in terms of Republicans suing because of "executive overreach" or something?

Correct. It is not at all clear the governor has the power to do a wholesale grant like that of a class of citizens.

[Virginiá]

Correct. It is not at all clear the governor has the power to do a wholesale grant like that of a class of citizens.

As a commoner, I would argue that if he is given the power to give voting rights back and there are no provisions specifying how many people he can do it with, or how many at a time, then I can't see a legal argument against it.

At any rate, if it stands, that means roughly 188,999 African American felons will get their voting rights back. Obama won Virginia in 2012 by 149,298 votes, so if just 20% of those newly enfranchised African Americans vote, that's already over 25% of Obama's winning numbers, or 37,799 votes. That is an incredible boost to Hillary's chances in Virginia. Given VA's current trends, I think this just made it decently harder for a Republican to win VA - Especially if the photo id law is struck down.

[IceSpear]

Wonderful news!

T-Mac is already doing his best to ensure the great state of Virginia is delivered for Hillary Rodham Clinton in November! There's more where this came from, folks.

[Gass3268]

Wonderful news!

T-Mac is already doing his best to ensure the great state of Virginia is delivered for Hillary Rodham Clinton in November! There's more where this came from, folks.

The Rum Man!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'm fine with this move.

[/]

Should help the Democrats.

[bballrox4717]

I have to say, I'm very pleasantly surprised that McAuliffe is probably the best Virginia politician right now. It's really not too far fetched to see him as Hillary's vice president and actually deserve it.

[Ban my account ffs!]

He seems to be a good governor.  Certainly better than he is a party leader.  This was definitely the right decision.

[Santander]

Move in the right direction.

[publicunofficial]

This drops the percentage of disenfranchised black adults in Virginia from 20% to roughly 3%.

Even if only a handful of these felons end up voting in November, that's still a huge number.

[Virginiá]

This drops the percentage of disenfranchised black adults in Virginia from 20% to roughly 3%.

Even if only a handful of these felons end up voting in November, that's still a huge number.

Yup, and once the voting rights are given back, a Republican Governor down the line can't rescind their rights again. So these people have them for good. As I said above, if even 20% of those newly-enfranchised black ex-felons vote in 2016 (which, give or take is a number in line with ex-felon voting rates iirc), then that adds over 35,000 - 37,000 votes to Hillary's count, assuming they vote almost unanimously Democratic, as African Americans typically do.

This makes me feel pretty good about Northam's gubernatorial run in 2017 as well

[100% pro-life no matter what]

This drops the percentage of disenfranchised black adults in Virginia from 20% to roughly 3%.

Even if only a handful of these felons end up voting in November, that's still a huge number.

Yup, and once the voting rights are given back, a Republican Governor down the line can't rescind their rights again. So these people have them for good. As I said above, if even 20% of those newly-enfranchised black ex-felons vote in 2016 (which, give or take is a number in line with ex-felon voting rates iirc), then that adds over 35,000 - 37,000 votes to Hillary's count, assuming they vote almost unanimously Democratic, as African Americans typically do.

This makes me feel pretty good about Northam's gubernatorial run in 2017 as well

I am sure there are some white people in this group too

[Gass3268]

This drops the percentage of disenfranchised black adults in Virginia from 20% to roughly 3%.

Even if only a handful of these felons end up voting in November, that's still a huge number.

Yup, and once the voting rights are given back, a Republican Governor down the line can't rescind their rights again. So these people have them for good. As I said above, if even 20% of those newly-enfranchised black ex-felons vote in 2016 (which, give or take is a number in line with ex-felon voting rates iirc), then that adds over 35,000 - 37,000 votes to Hillary's count, assuming they vote almost unanimously Democratic, as African Americans typically do.

This makes me feel pretty good about Northam's gubernatorial run in 2017 as well

I am sure there are some white people in this group too

Of course, but the disproportionally African American.

[Virginiá]

I am sure there are some white people in this group too

Yes, and this rights restoration action would then not be as useful if African Americans didn't vote almost unanimously Democratic. This ultimately benefits Democrats a lot more than not.