Voting Rights Restoration Letters Sent to Deceased Individuals in Virginia

<p>Deceased Virginians with felony convictions have reportedly received voting-rights restoration letters under Governor Abigail Spanberger, who announced in July that she had restored voting rights to 66,000 individuals with felony convictions.</p><p>The notices are being sent as Virginia implements a federal court ruling that limits which felony convictions can lead to disenfranchisement. Voters will also decide this fall whether to amend the state constitution to automatically restore voting rights upon release from incarceration.</p><p>Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson stated, "I've been a lawyer for 27 years and in every minute of my career, when you were convicted of a felony, you lose your voting rights. The way you get those back is you have to petition the governor and then the governor can review your case and determine whether the civil rights of a convicted felon should be restored." Anderson shared posts showing letters from Spanberger's administration sent to families of deceased individuals, suggesting that either the vetting process is inadequate or not being conducted at all.</p><p>Anderson questioned whether a relative of a deceased person might attempt to register them to vote, stating, "These dead people clearly aren't petitioning the governor to get their civil liberties back... they're restoring every single felon's civil disabilities without anybody even asking. And that's concerning, especially when they're dead."</p><p>Virginia resident Howard "Skip" Lambert posted a restoration notice signed by Spanberger and a notification from her administration addressed to a relative, informing them that their voting rights had been restored. Lambert confirmed that the recipient was his daughter, who died in 2024 and had a felony conviction.</p><p>Lambert expressed concern about the timing of the mailings, noting that the official order was dated July 1, and stated, "Just because cash doesn't change hands doesn't mean the governor isn't trying to buy votes."</p><p>In a letter from Secretary of the Commonwealth Candi Mundon-King, the relative was informed that their voting rights and the right to serve on a jury had been restored and was encouraged to re-register to vote via an online portal.</p><p>Another resident, Peggie Young, received a similar set of documents addressed to a deceased friend, questioning if this could lead to voter fraud.</p><p>The federal case, King v. Youngkin, began in 2023 when disenfranchised Virginians sued then-Governor Glenn Youngkin and other state officials, arguing that Virginia’s blanket felony ban conflicted with the federal Virginia Readmission Act of 1870. U.S. District Judge John Gibney Jr. ruled in January that Virginia could only disenfranchise individuals for 11 common-law felonies recognized in 1870, ultimately narrowing automatic disenfranchisement to murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter.</p><p>The Department of Elections is notifying approximately 235,000 Virginians whose convictions no longer disqualify them from voting. These court-driven notices are separate from the restoration orders received by Lambert and Young, which state that the governor’s office reviewed each recipient’s case before restoring civil rights.</p><p>Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger's office and the Department of Elections for comment.</p>