Spanberger says it ‘appears’ she restored dead people’s voting rights

Published October 9, 2026 1:40pm ET



Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) told reporters Friday that her administration is “looking into” the possibility that it restored the voting rights of deceased individuals when reinstating voting rights for Virginians with prior felony convictions.

Spanberger announced in July that her office restored voting rights for 66,085 previous felons in Virginia. The commonwealth’s constitution automatically and permanently strips voting rights of all convicted felons, but it leaves the power to restore them individually after a person completes their prison sentence to the sitting governor.

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