NORFOLK, Va. — Amid calls to change the Voting Rights Restoration process for convicted felons, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the Commonwealth has been cooperating with the Virginia NAACP.
"We're fully complying with the law," said Youngkin."We provided them over 600 pages of information, and they're just playing politics right now. We are working as prescribed by the constitution and reaffirmed by the state supreme court to provide every one of these returning Virginians to have an opportunity to have an individual review."
The NAACP claims Youngkin's process is "arbitrary" and discriminates against Black Virginians. The group has threatened a lawsuit against Youngkin and his administration unless they publicly release the criteria used for restoring the voting rights of convicted felons.
In October, the NAACP said that Youngkin's administration failed to provide "key documents" from the more than 600 requested from his office. The documents unaccounted for, according to the organization, detailed the factors used to determine if an application is approved or rejected.
Youngkin's office, however, said it spent months compiling documents per the NAACP's request.
"This is not a moment to play politics; it's a moment to serve Virginians," said Youngkin. "And that's exactly what we are doing with regards to Virginians returning to a productive life. And I believe every Virginian that has the right to vote should be voting, and that's the job that we're doing."
Despite the documents submitted, the NCAAP said it is still unclear why some people who submitted applications had their voting rights denied. Earlier this week, the group shared renewed calls for clear criteria moving forward.