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Republicans Want Virginia Supreme Court to Hold Governor in Contempt

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Republican leaders in the General Assembly say the Virginia Supreme Court should hold Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe in contempt of court for his action to restore voting rights to former felons. 

It’s the latest twist in the ongoing soap opera between Republicans and Democrats in Richmond, one that could prevent thousands of people from voting this November. After the Virginia Supreme Court overturned Governor Terry McAuliffe’s executive order restoring voting rights to former felons, he took action to restore voting rights of 13,000 former felons who had already submitted voter registration applications. Republican Delegate Dave Albo says Republicans don’t believe that the governor actually considered all those cases individually. 

“There’s no way that he went through 13,000 people’s court cases and found out whether every single person paid their restitution. Impossible."

Democratic Delegate Mark Levine says the governor is following the Constitution and Republicans are playing politics. 

“I’m sick and tired of judicial activists in the Republican Party ignoring the Constitution to try to keep people from voting. The governor has a right to restore their civil rights. Every governor has done it for centuries, and this governor has the right to do it."

The chairwoman of the Republican Party says the governor decided he can get around the Supreme Court’s ruling with a simple mail merge function. The chairman of the Democratic Party says Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for playing politics with the right to participate in democracy. 

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