RICHMOND — Democratic lawmakers plan to meet with Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) Wednesday morning to press him to change — or at least clarify — a policy for restoring the voting rights of people convicted of felonies, which has led to far fewer restorations than the practices of his recent predecessors in the Executive Mansion.
But Youngkin defended his stance Tuesday, saying it conforms to the state constitution and restores a rigor to the process that other governors ignored.
“Tomorrow morning we get a chance to listen to one another and exchange views,” Youngkin told reporters after an unrelated public event in Petersburg. He added that the state constitution is “very clear that what I have to do is give every formerly incarcerated Virginian an individual review. And that’s what we’re committed to do.”