Vote No on the “Empowering Violent Felons Act”
by Bill Bolling
nder current Virginia law, anyone convicted of committing a felony criminal offense is prohibited from voting unless their ability to vote is restored by the Governor. This is one of the most significant restrictions on felons voting rights in the nation.
In recent years, Governors of both political parties have made the restoration of felon voting rights a priority:
Governor Bob McDonnell (2010–2014) began automatic restoration of voting rights for nonviolent felonies.
Governor Terry McAuliffe (2014–2018) extended automatic restoration to all felonies, but included a probation requirement for violent felons.
Governor Ralph Northam (2018–2022) removed the probation requirement for violent felons.
Governor Glenn Youngkin ended the proactive process, requiring individual applications for the restoration of voting rights.
Governor Abigail Spanberger (2026 to present) reinstated the proactive system, and combined with a January 2026 federal court ruling that expanded eligibility, has restored voting rights to 66,085 felons since taking office in January of this year!
But this year, Democrats want to take this a step farther. They are proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would automatically restore the voting rights of all convicted felons immediately upon completion of their term of confinement.
This is a bad idea, and it should be rejected by the people of Virginia.
I have no problem making the restoration of voting rights automatic for a certain class of convicted felons – nonviolent felons – although there may be some categories of nonviolent felonies that should be exempt from automatic restoration.
However, I have a big problem with the automatic restoration of voting rights for persons who have been convicted of violent felonies, the most serious criminal offenses against their fellow citizens.
In my opinion, people who have been convicted and incarcerated for violent felonies (crimes involving the application of threats of force or the actual use of force to harm victims or put them in a position where they fear for their safety) should not have their voting rights automatically restored when their period of incarceration has ended.
Rather, I would suggest that more should be expected of these types of violent felons before their rights are restored, including the successful completion of a period of post incarceration probation (after all, studies show that 63.8% of these felons will be rearrested within two years of their release), and restitution to the victims of their crimes.
With this proposal, Virginia Democrats have done what they always do – they have gone way too far in their effort to protect those people who have chosen to violent the laws we live under.
Unfortunately, my guess is that this misguided constitutional amendment will pass. Why? Because no organized group with the resources to effectively oppose it has arisen, and because like it or not, more Virginia voters are buying into this type of liberal Democratic nonsense.
But at least do your part. Vote NO on the automatic restoration of rights amendment, which should more appropriately be called the Empowering Violent Felons Act.
BILL BOLLING served as the 39th lieutenant governor for Virginia.
