Virginia has implemented a landmark federal court order and now no longer strips someone’s voting rights away over any felony conviction except three:murder,voluntary manslaughterandinvoluntary manslaughter.
It is the latest, and likely final, step intheKing v. O’Bannonfederal lawsuitthat started in 2023.
In January, US District Court Judge John Gibney partially struck down Virginia’s felony disenfranchisement policy when he ruled it violated a Reconstruction-era federal law and could only be applied to 11 common-law felonies as recognized in 1870.
But not all of those were still crimes, as Gibneyreaffirmed in August, when he disagreed with the office of Attorney General Jay Jones that the list of 11 could apply to 284 modern-day crimes.
Now, the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) removed the list crafted by the AG’s office from its website — which says that murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter are the only disenfranchising crimes in the commonwealth.
Virginians convicted of any other felony can now freely register to vote and cast a ballot if they’ve been released,per ELECT’s website. Incarcerated people cannot register to vote in Virginia.
Tati King and Toni Johnson sued ELECT officials in 2023, arguing that the state’s felony disenfranchisement rule violates the Readmission Act of 1870 — which allowed Virginia to regain congressional representation after the Civil War on the condition that it wouldn’t pass laws that disenfranchise people for convictions other than a select few.
But because Virginia did just that, Gibney ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor, directing the commonwealth to stop denying or canceling voter registrations for felony convictions other than“(1) arson; (2) burglary; (3) escape and rescue from a prison or jail; (4) larceny; (5) manslaughter; (6) mayhem; (7) murder; (8) rape; (9) robbery; (10) sodomy; and (11) suicide.”
The attorneys representing King and Johnson — the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Protect Democracy and WilmerHale — released a joint statement Tuesday that said the change virtually ends felony disenfranchisement in Virginia for those who have served their time.
“Out of the more than 1,000 felonies that exist in Virginia, the Commonwealth will now only strip voting rights from people convicted of one of three felonies, meaning that ofthe quarter of a million Virginianswho were ineligible to vote due to a felony conviction in 2024, only about 10 percent will remain disenfranchised,” the statement reads.
After getting an extension earlier this year, state election officials had until June 1 to implement Gibney’s order from January.
The ACLU of Virginia argued that ELECT and Jones’ office still did not comply with the order in timebecause many people, including King and Johnson, initially had their voter registrations stuck in limbo.
In August, Gibney issued another opinion that said Virginia had wrongly applied his ruling with the list of 284 disqualifying crimes developed by Jones’ office.
“Virginia can freely choose to disenfranchise a person convicted of one of the eleven common-law felonies,” Gibney wrote in an Aug. 19 opinion. “But Virginia may not use any other felony conviction as a grounds for disenfranchisement.”
Because state officials incorrectly implemented Gibney’s order, potentially hundreds of thousands of Virginians who should have been able to vote in the August primary were prevented from doing so.
Separate from King and Johnson’s lawsuit, Virginians will vote on a ballot measure to amend the state’s constitution to automatically restore voting rights to people who have completed felony convictions.
“This victory is an enormous step towards ending felony disenfranchisement in Virginia, one that Virginians can advance even further at the ballot box this fall,” the statement adds.
VPM News reached out to ELECT last week to request an interview with Elections Commissioner Steve Koski about the department’s implementation of Gibney’s ruling.
ELECT has yet to respond to multiple emails seeking an interview.
Despite multiple requests from VPM News, a spokesperson for Jones’ office has not responded to the latest ELECT guidance.
Early voting in the 2026 general election opens Friday; the deadline to register to vote is Oct. 23, though Virginia also offers same-day registration on provisional ballots.
More VPM News coverage ofKing v. Youngkin:
- Federal judge says Virginia still failing to follow voter restoration order
- Voting rights court battle drags into early voting period
- Federal judge orders widespread voting rights restoration for Virginians
- Civil rights groups push to end Virginia’s denial of voting rights to felons
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