With thousands newly able to vote, a Va. ballot measure could unlock voting rights for more

Nov. 3 will be Seychell Williams’ first time voting, a civic duty she said she’s excited to experience. 

Despite advocating for criminal justice reform laws at the state Capitol over the years, she’s been unable to vote herself due to a past felony conviction for which she served five years in prison. 

She chose to skip the early voting or mail-in options to savor the experience in person. 

“It’s my first time so of course I want to be out on Election Day,” she said.

Williams is among more than 200,000 Virginians who regained their voting rights after a court ruled earlier this year they never should have lost them based on a Reconstruction Era law. 

In addition to that case, Gov. Abigail Spanberger restored about 60,000 others’ rights over the summer.  

But the third in a slate of constitutional amendments on Election Day ballots will determine if voting restoration will become automatic after incarceration, or remain a petition-based system. 

Proposed Constitutional Amendment Question 3

Question: Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended (i) to provide for the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, (ii) to revise the qualifications of voters so that a person convicted of a felony is not entitled to vote during his period of incarceration but is automatically invested with the right to vote upon release from incarceration, and (iii) to update the existing prohibition on voting by persons found to be mentally incompetent to instead apply to persons who have been found to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting?

Virginia’s constitution permanently disenfranchises people with felonies unless a governor pardons them or they successfully petition a governor to restore their voting rights. That process is subjective and not always transparent.

Williams plans to vote for the amendment, along with two other referendums to enshrine reproductive rights and same-sex marriage protections into the constitution.

Since learning of her voting eligibility last month, she said she’s been alerting as many people as possible to check their status and register.

The Virginia Department of Elections mailed notices to eligible people following the Readmission Act case. 

But “one touch often isn’t enough,” Free Our Vote technology officer Tyler Richardett said, “especially for a group who may have believed they were permanently disenfranchised.” 

His organization has partnered with Campaign Legal Center — who’d been involved in the Readmission Act case — as well as Virginia Civic Engagement Table and Vote Riders to help spread the word through text messages and more mailed notices. 

“To get a few more touches” and expand outreach, Richardett said his organization sourced court and corrections data to piece together eligible people that meet the criteria. 

As of late October, over 1.3 million Virginians have voted early, roughly 350,000 more than the early voting total from the 2022 congressional midterm elections. 

While midterm elections represent voters’ support or rebuke of political parties in power in Congress, Virginia’s constitutional amendments like Ballot Question 3 may also be driving turnout. 

Virginia-based criminal justice reform organizations have also been conducting outreach and holding events to boost turnout and inform new voters. 

Williams has contributed through her nonprofit called the Ruby Grant Project, which supports people reentering society from incarceration and was named for her grandmother who’d conducted prison ministry. 

She’d also been a speaker at the Virginia Justice Conference in Richmond last month. The conference’s organizer Sheba Williams (no relation to Seychell Williams), said that the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office had set up a table at the event to help people look up their status.  

Richardett called it “extra special” and “serendipitous” that many of the likely new voters may choose to vote for Ballot Question 3 so that “others can follow behind them.” 

Constitutional: The amendment that could restore formerly incarcerated Virginians’ voting rights

Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights, and Democratic lawmakers had unsuccessfully carried legislation in past years to move the referendum forward. 

It finally passed the legislature two years in a row — as required by law to amend the constitution — before appearing on ballots this year. 

It’s “taken us a long time to get this on the ballot,” Sheba Williams, who’d worked with lawmakers on the legislation, said. “It’s very difficult to change the constitution.” 

But that also means it will be harder to undo it.

As a new voter, Seychell Williams said she wants to make sure others can enjoy the ability to weigh in on who represents them and shoring up their rights as citizens. 

“I’m going to be at every Election Day going forward,” she said.

Read more about Virginia’s three pending constitutional amendments here.