RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Almost two weeks into the early voting period ahead of this year’s general election, state officials are working to resolve an issue that has removed an unknown amount of registered voters from the state’s voter roll.
“The Governor is committed to ensuring those that are eligible can vote and those affected will have their registration reinstated,” said Macaulay Porter with Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Office.
Additionally, Porter said Youngkin has ordered Virginia State Police to “correct the process” along with ordering a review.
According to the Virginia Department of Elections, state police provide a monthly updated list of felony convictions in the state. Andrea Gaines, a spokeswoman for the department told news outlets Wednesday that the elections department “was recently informed that these files received from VSP may contain probation violation convictions.”
The department also asked state police to review the data and determine who has been affected by this error. Once the department receives the analyzed data from state police, impacted votes will be reinstated immediately, according to Gaines.
According to Virginia’s “Restoration of Rights Process,” no convicted felons are eligible to vote, serve on a jury, run for office, become a notary or carry a firearm. According to the Constitution of Virginia, “those who are convicted of a felony are at the sole discretion of the governor to restore their civil rights which does not include firearm rights.
Virginia State Police has confirmed their efforts to fix this problem as well. According to a spokesperson, the data in the “Central Criminal Records Exchange” report, “no longer contains felony probation violation charges to not inadvertently disqualify individuals whose rights were previously restored by the former Governor.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
