Voting Rights Amendment

Vote YES to restore Voting Rights in the Virginia Constitution.

What it does

This amendment will restore voting rights to people with felony convictions upon release from incarceration.

In addition, it will restore the right to vote to persons found 'mentally incompetent' and instead apply to 'persons who have been found to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting.'

Why we need it

Virginia is the only U.S. state that permanently disenfranchises all people with felony convictions unless the governor approves individual rights restoration.

Virginians with felony convictions are permanently disenfranchised unless and until their right to vote is restored by the Governor through a discretionary, and often arbitrary, executive action.

Ballot Wording

Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended (i) to provide for the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, (ii) to revise the qualifications of voters so that a person convicted of a felony is not entitled to vote during his period of incarceration but is automatically invested with the right to vote upon release from incarceration, and (iii) to update the existing prohibition on voting by persons found to be mentally incompetent to instead apply to persons who have been found to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting?

Summary of the Legislation

HJ3. SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED
Constitutional amendment (second reference); qualifications of voters and the right to vote; persons not entitled to vote. Provides that every person who meets the qualifications of voters set forth in the Constitution shall have the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth and that such right shall not be abridged by law, except for persons who have been convicted of a felony and persons who have been adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting. A person who has been convicted of a felony shall not be entitled to vote during any period of incarceration for such felony conviction, but upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further action required of him such person shall be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote. Currently, in order to be qualified to vote a person convicted of a felony must have his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. The amendment also provides that a person adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction as lacking the capacity to understand the act of voting shall not be entitled to vote during this period of incapacity until his capacity has been reestablished as prescribed by law. Currently, the Constitution provides that a person who has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent is not qualified to vote until his competency is reestablished.

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