The governor of Virginia, a huge Hillary Clinton supporter, has just made a blatant move to help Hillary win the presidency by overriding the constitution of Virginia with an executive order that gives over 200,000 felons the right to vote:
RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH – Gov. Terry McAuliffe today signed an order that effectively restores the civil rights, including the right to vote, of more than 200,000 felons in Virginia.
The order by McAuliffe, a friend and supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, is likely to boost Democrats’ chances in what will be a key presidential swing state in November.
Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said in a statement that “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.”
The unprecedented move, which McAuliffe announced at an 11 a.m. news conference on Capitol Square, marks a dramatic expansion of policy in restoring the right to vote, to sit on a jury, to serve in elected office or become a notary.
Today’s order applies to nonviolent and violent felons – a significant departure from a policy embraced in recent years by Democrat and Republican governors to remove the societal obstacles felons face upon completing their sentences.
This can’t be legal. How is it that a sitting Governor can undo a provision in the state Constitution without going through the state congress to get it done?
J. Christian Adams wrote about the felon vote in Virginia back in 2013 when then Gov. McDonnell was trying to liberalize the voting restrictions on felons:
Democrats have long agitated for felons to enjoy full voting rights. It’s no surprise why. When felons are allowed to vote, it is easier for Democrats to win elections.
It is no accident that Democrats and leftist civil rights groups want felons to vote. American history would have been very different without felon disenfranchisement laws.
For starters, a 2001 study at Northwestern University showed that if felons had the right to vote, George W. Bush would never have been elected in 2000. Republicans also would never have held the Senate in the 1980s or 1990s. The study demonstrated that felons overwhelmingly vote for Democrats.
Simply put, American history would have been radically different. That’s why the left is so eager to get felons to the polls. There are 350,000 felons in Virginia who have completed their prison sentences.
I’m sure this move by McAuliffe will be contested, but between the liberal courts and the timing needed to get a solid ruling this, it’s likely that November will have come and gone before McAuliffe gets his authority revoked by the courts, if that even happens. But hey, I’d love to be wrong about this.