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Virginia Felon Voting Rights Restoration Amendment (2022)
| Virginia Felon Voting Rights Restoration Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Suffrage | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Virginia Felon Voting Rights Restoration Amendment was not on the ballot in Virginia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
The ballot measure would amend the Virginia Constitution to restore voting rights to persons convicted of a felony after they have completed their sentence. Currently, the governor has the sole authority to restore voting rights regardless of whether a felon has completed their sentence.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Virginia Constitution
In Virginia, a constitutional amendment needs to be passed by a simple majority vote in both chambers of the state legislature over two consecutive legislative sessions to be certified for the ballot.
2020-2021 legislative session
The Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate each introduced and passed two versions of an amendment that would restore voting rights for felons—House Joint Resolution 555 (HJR 555) and Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 272). After a conference committee, the Senate voted 21-18 and the House voted 56-40 to approve a substitute version.[1][2]
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2022-2023 legislative session
Legislators needed to approve the constitutional amendment again during the 2022-2023 legislative session before the proposal could appear on the ballot.
On February 15, 2022, the state Senate voted 24-16 to approve the amendment, which was introduced in the 2022 session as Senate Joint Resolution 1. All Democrats and three Republicans voted in favor of it, and 16 Republicans voted against it.[3]
In the 2021 elections, the partisan control of the House changed from a 55-45 Democratic majority to a 52-48 Republican majority.
On March 1, 2022, a House Privileges and Elections Subcommittee voted down the constitutional amendment, preventing it from moving forward. The vote was 6-4, with Republicans opposed and Democrats in support.
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Virginia State Legislature, "HJ 555 (2021)," accessed March 1, 2021
- ↑ Virginia State Legislature, "SJR 272 Overview," accessed March 1, 2021
- ↑ Virginia State Legislature, "SJ 1 Constitutional amendment; qualifications of voters and the right to vote (second reference)," accessed February 17, 2022
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State of Virginia Richmond (capital) |
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