Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Sunday defended his recent executive order to restore voting rights for former felons in the Old Dominion.
“It was the morally right thing to do,” McAuliffe told New York-based radio host John Catsimatidis during an interview.
McAuliffe bypassed Virginia’s Republican-controlled legislature in late April to pass the executive order that has since allowed more than 200,000 convicted felons to register to vote.
Some Republicans have argued that the bill is aimed at turning Virginia, a key battleground state, blue in the general election.
” They’re back in the community. They’ve served their debts to society. Why do we want people to continue to be second-class citizens?” the governor said.
A handful of GOP lawmakers in Virginia recently announced that they intend to take legal action against McAuliffe over the order.
“The singular purpose of Terry McAuliffe’s governorship is to elect Hillary Clinton president of the United States. This office has always been a stepping stone to a job in Hillary Clinton’s Cabinet,” Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William Howell said in a statement last month.
