The state’s high court ruled the Democrat Governor didn’t have legal authority to restore voting rights to thousands of felons.
Virginia‘s highest court has ruled that Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe‘s action restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons was unconstitutional and illegal, according to Fox News.
On Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the governor overstepped his authority and should not have allowed tens of thousands of felons the right to vote. The GOP is hailing the ruling as a major victory for the rule of law, and argues that it could have a snowball effect across the country in other left-leaning states.
In a 4-3 decision, the high court ordered the state to cancel the registration of roughly 11,300 felons who signed up to vote after McAuliffe’s April 2016 executive order. His ruling allowed many felons to vote in the 2016 presidential election, which happened to be a state Hillary Clinton won.
Top republicans called the ruling a huge victory for the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law, but said there’s still a lot of work to be done. Rather than immediately cancelling more than 200,000 felons voting rights, the court stated that it will order the state to complete the task periodically.
The court also held that the state cannot restore rights en masse but must consider each former offender’s case individually, considering the entire case before deciding if they should have their rights restored.
McAuliffe’s order restored voting rights to criminal offenders who had already completed their sentences. As such, his order allowed them to become a public notary, serve on a jury, and even run for public office.
McAuliffe, a top ally to Clinton who campaigned with her in the 2016 presidential election, came under fire last month when an admitted pedophile and convicted felon announced that he would be running for state office.
The felon was legally eligible to run for public office because of McAuliffe’s order.
A candidate who wants to legalize incest in Virginia is also eligible to run for public office because of McAuliffe.
The convicted felon sparked national outrage last month after many learned that he would be allowed to run for Congress because of McAuliffe’s order.
The felon stated that he not only wanted to ban incest — sexual intercourse between closely related people — he also said publicly that he wanted to have sex with his own daughter.
McAuliffe’s order comes amid growing rumors that the he will launch a presidential bid in 2020.
The Clinton ally has a history of controversial actions, and now he is facing growing questions about his leadership given his executive order allowed convicted felons, pedophiles, and rapists to run for public office.
Via CDP
