Good News: Virginia Restores Voting Rights to 66,000+ People

Sixty-six thousand people got their voice back this year.

On August 6 — the 61st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act — Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed a series of bills strengthening voting rights and election security in the Commonwealth. Since taking office in January, her administration has restored voting and civil rights to more than 66,000 Virginians with past felony convictions, reversing the restrictive, case-by-case restoration process put in place by her predecessor. These Virginians can now vote, serve on juries, run for public office, and become notaries public.

This is what it looks like when leadership chooses access over obstruction. For years, thousands of Virginians who had served their time were left in limbo — eligible in theory, shut out in practice. One administration change, and the math flips: more neighbors at the ballot box, more voices in the room, more democracy functioning the way it's supposed to.

Rights restoration isn't a technicality. It's the difference between being governed and being heard. Every person who regains the right to vote is a reminder that democracy is not static — it can be expanded, and it can be taken away, depending entirely on who holds power and what they choose to do with it.

Leading Ladies Vote believes voting is power, full stop — and that power should never be permanently withheld as punishment. Virginia just proved what's possible when a state chooses to restore it. Read more and share the win.

https://wtop.com/virginia/2026/08/spanberger-restores-voting-rights-to-more-than-60000-virginians/