RICHMOND, Va. — Unlike most people in Virginia seeking to have their voting rights restored, Blair Dacey was able to tell her story directly to Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
When she was 17, she'd come to a friend's defense in a fight with the friend's husband. Dacey said she kicked the husband in the head, and he later died from brain injuries. It was an accident, she said, but a jury convicted her of second-degree murder.
She was pardoned in the final days of former Gov. Ralph Northam's term, and went on to work for a state senator — which is how she met Youngkin, at an event.
Dacey said Youngkin held her arm and hand as she talked, and seemed sympathetic. But two months after petitioning his administration to have her voting rights restored, Dacey hasn't heard back. The delay is not unusual; recent governors from both parties approved requests in batches. But they also spelled out clearly who was eligible.