Va. Supreme Court allows Gov. McAuliffe's latest attempt to restore felon's voting rights

WRIC Newsroom – RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) - The Virginia Supreme Court denied a motion by the Virginia Republican Party to prevent Gov. Terry McAuliffe from restoring the rights of former Virginia felons who have served their time according to the process he announced July 22nd.

In a statement, McAuliffe said that he was pleased about the decision.

"Restoring these Virginians' civil rights is morally the right thing to do, and we will continue to move forward via a process that is in full compliance with the court's July 22nd ruling and the precedent of previous governors," he said. "It is my hope that the court's validation of the process we are using will convince Republicans to drop their divisive efforts to prevent Virginians from regaining their voting rights and focus their energy and resources on making Virginia a better place to live for the people who elected all of us to lead."

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William Howell issued a statement after the Supreme Court's order Thursday, which said in part:

We are disappointed by today's news but respect the Supreme Court's order. Throughout this process, our goal was to hold Governor McAuliffe accountable to the Constitution and the Rule of Law. The governor stretched the bounds of the Virginia Constitution and sought to expand executive power in a manner we viewed as inappropriate and reckless. The Supreme Court strongly rebuked the governor's executive overreach in the original case."