Tag: virginia

Abigail Spanberger Restores Voting Rights to 66,000 Virginians ‘with Past Felony Convictions’

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) announced that her administration has restored voting rights to more than 66,000 Virginians who have “past felony convictions.”

In a press release on Friday, Spanberger expressed that “the right to vote is foundational to who we are as Americans.” Spanberger added that as a gubernatorial candidate and since taking office she has “heard from many Virginians who have shared their personal stories of redemption with me.”

Per the press release, the civil rights restored by Spanberger also include “the right to vote, serve on a jury,” and to “run for public office”:

Virginia is one of three states with a constitution that permanently disenfranchises citizens with past felony convictions — leaving restoration of rights entirely to the Governor’s discretion. The civil rights restored by Governor Spanberger include the right to vote, serve on a jury, run for public office, and become a notary public.

“I’m proud that — after contending with my predecessor’s efforts to deny Virginians their fundamental rights — we have restored the rights of more than 66,000 Virginians who have served their time,” Spanberger said. “These Virginians deserve the right to use their vote, make their voices heard, and be recognized as contributing citizens to our Commonwealth and country.”

The press release comes as Virginia residents in the fall will be able to “vote in a referendum on a constitutional amendment that would allow” felons in Virginia to have their voting rights restored “upon their release from incarceration.”

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“A Shameful Relic of Our Jim Crow Past” – Democrat Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger Restores Voting Rights for 66,000 Felons Before Midterms

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger announced on Friday that her administration has restored voting rights for more than 66,000 felons since taking office in January. 

The Democrats gained 66,085 new voters with this move.

Their rights to serve on a jury, run for public office, and become a notary public were also restored under Spanberger’s direction.

“By giving these Virginians back their ability to make an impact at the local, state, and national levels, we are empowering our neighbors to take hold of their second chance,” Spanberger said in a statement.

Virginia is one of three states that strips convicted felons of their right to vote.

Spanberger’s predecessor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, previously rolled back a policy of automatically restoring felons’ rights and chose to evaluate applications on a case-by-case basis.

According to the Blaze, Youngkin had restored the right to vote for about 10,000 felons.

“The right to vote is foundational to who we are as Americans. As a Member of Congress, as a candidate for Governor, and in the months since I took office, I have heard from many Virginians who have shared their personal stories of redemption with me — and heartfelt reflections of the moment their voting rights were restored by previous Governors,” Spanberger said.

“I’m proud that — after contending with my predecessor’s efforts to deny Virginians their fundamental rights — we have restored the rights of more than 66,000 Virginians who have served their time. These Virginians deserve the right to use their vote, make their voices heard, and be recognized as contributing citizens to our Commonwealth and country.”

She further urged voters to vote yes on a constitutional amendment that would automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons upon completing their sentences. She called the practice of stripping voting rights from felons “a shameful relic of our Jim Crow past.”

The governor wrote, “This fall, voters can cast their ballots for Virginia to no longer strip so many of our neighbors of their fundamental rights — a shameful relic of our Jim Crow past. I hope Virginians will join me in voting yes.”

Not only is Spanberger trying to get as many convicted-felon voters as possible, but her state is now pausing the removal of noncitizen voters from the voting rolls 90 days before the election in accordance with a court settlement between Virginia and the Campaign Legal Center.

According to Judicial Watch, “Virginia cancelled 6,531 declared non-citizen voter registrations. But Virginia entered into a settlement with leftist groups to pause the program to remove declared noncitizens from voting rolls for the 90-day period before federal elections.”

According to Judicial Watch, The more than 6,500 noncitizen voters were removed between 2024 and June 2026.

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Democrat Senator Mark Warner Gets Fact-Checked on Virginia Voter ID Laws on Live TV

Democrat Senator Mark Warner got fact-checked on live TV about voter ID amid a debate over President Trump’s push for the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act.

President Trump on Thursday evening delivered a primetime address to the nation about foreign election interference.

The president revealed:

– The DHS found approximately 278,000 non-citizens on the voter rolls

– China accessed 220 million US voter files and the Deep State withheld that information from Trump

– China targeted President Trump during the 2020 election by paying media outlets to write negative stories about him

At the end of his speech, President Trump urged Americans to call their representatives and demand that they pass the SAVE America Act.

The US must secure its elections. It is a matter of national security.

“To all Americans, I ask you to pick up your phone tomorrow, call your representatives and the House and Senate, and demand that they pass the SAVE America Act without delay,” President Trump said.

Mark Warner got called out about his voter ID lies during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

“You and every other Democrat oppose the SAVE America Act… requiring photo ID to register to vote, is this Democrats should get behind?” Jon Karl asked Mark Warner.

“In Virginia, we have voter ID and photo ID!” Mark Warner said.

This is a lie.

Virginia currently allows voters to present non-photo identification, such as copies of utilities and bank statements, as an accepted form of ID.

Virginia voters can also sign an ID statement affirming their identity.

Jon Karl fact-checked Mark Warner.

“That’s actually not the case. I’m a Virginia voter. You don’t need to show a photo ID in Virginia,” Jon Karl said, adding, “And if you don’t show one of those you can sign an affidavit…”

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DISGRACEFUL: Far-Left Virginia Democrat Elaine Luria Dismisses Horrifying Rape Accusation Against Fellow Dem Graham Platner As Just A ‘Shiny New Thing’

The radical left’s “Believe All Women” mantra has officially been exposed as a total fraud yet again.

Former Congresswoman Elaine Luria had the audacity to dismiss explosive sexual assault allegations against Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner as nothing more than a Republican “boogeyman” and “shiny new thing” designed to scare people.

In an interview, Luria, who is running to reclaim Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District seat, brushed off the bombshell claims against her fellow Democrat while insisting she’s “singularly focused on this district” and her “proven record.”

Here’s what Luria said:

“I’m singularly focused on this district, the message of what’s important to people here in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. And they’re always going to try to find a boogeyman and tie, you know, the Democrat to whatever shiny new thing is going to scare people. But the truth is, is I have a proven record in Congress and I’m focused on listening to, supporting, and then representing those people across this district.”

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SELF-DEFENSE AGAINST THE MACHINE: Virginia Man Puts Warrantless Flock Surveillance on Trial

As millions of Americans passively consume state-sanctioned fireworks this Fourth of July, it is crucial to remember that Independence Day was not birthed from compliance, but from radical, unapologetic defiance against a monolithic empire. That raw spirit of 1776 has not been extinguished; it has simply shifted targets from a tyrant king to the digital panopticon. The surveillance state rarely takes kindly to those who blind its all-seeing eye, and the latest casualty in this modern war for liberty is a 41-year-old Suffolk, Virginia resident named Jeffrey Scott Sovern. Between April and October of 2025, local authorities allege Sovern channeled that revolutionary energy by systematically dismantling 13 Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras operated by the private surveillance behemoth Flock Safety.

Investigators claim Sovern separated the two-piece mounting poles and removed the tracking equipment with tools, targeting the $1,300 setups that include the camera, solar panel, and mounting hardware. For allegedly blinding the panopticon, Sovern now faces 13 counts of felony destruction of property, six counts of petit larceny, and six counts of possessing burglary tools.

The official narrative, conveniently laid out in a criminal complaint, asserts that after Sovern was arrested on October 17, 2025, on unrelated warrants, he outright confessed to disassembling the units. Police claim he admitted to keeping solar panels, batteries, and other hardware at his Nicklaus Drive residence, which culminated in a raid that allegedly recovered six of those stolen solar panels.

Unsurprisingly, a spokesperson for Flock Safety issued a statement expressing gratitude toward law enforcement for holding individuals accountable when their devices are damaged. Yet, this corporate applause completely ignores the glaring constitutional crisis created by the very existence of these devices on public roadways.

These ALPR networks act as an unconstitutional dragnet, indiscriminately logging the movements of innocent, peaceful individuals without a shred of probable cause. In fact, just a year prior in June 2024, a Circuit Court judge in neighboring Norfolk correctly ruled that collecting location data from the city’s 172 Flock cameras constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, accurately likening the vast database to warrantless tracking devices.

The state’s portrayal of a clean, by-the-book investigation is already facing heavy public scrutiny. Individuals claiming to have been inside Sovern’s residence during the raid publicly asserted that police stormed the home, forced a resident to cower in a towel, and threatened everyone with handcuffs while refusing to immediately produce a warrant.

While disabling a device that is actively executing an unconstitutional search on your person might seem like a righteous defense of liberty, bringing that dismantled hardware into your home is a fatal tactical error. By allegedly harvesting the state-contracted property for personal use, Sovern crossed the threshold into petit larceny, handing the monopoly on violence the exact legal pretext it needed to execute a traumatic raid and levy multiple felonies.

To enforce the protection of their massive surveillance grid, the state didn’t hesitate to escalate its own aggression against a citizen. Investigators openly admitted in the criminal complaint that they obtained a search warrant for a GPS tracker, slapping it onto Sovern’s vehicle prior to his arrest to secretly monitor his movements and place him near the scenes of the disabled cameras.

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Alexandria, Virginia Encourages People to Call Government Snitch Line About Illegal Fireworks – Including Sparklers

Why must leftists try to ruin everything?

Millions of Americans are celebrating America’s 250th birthday this weekend, but the killjoys who run the liberal city of Alexandria, Virginia wants people to snitch on their fellow citizens for setting off ‘illegal’ fireworks, including sparklers.

Liberals are determined to not celebrate Independence Day this year and they want other people to be as unhappy as they are.

The Daily Caller reports:

Democrat City Boasts Of July 4 Tyranny, Bans Fireworks And Even Sparklers

One deep blue D.C. suburb will not be celebrating the Fourth of July with fireworks as its local government urges residents to turn in some of their patriotic neighbors.

In Alexandria, Virginia, the local government suggests reporting neighbors who are using fireworks, said an X post.

“Fireworks are illegal in Alexandria, including sparklers. Report illegal fireworks by calling 311. Our show is next weekend,” the post read.

“Any fireworks found inside the City can be taken away. If you are caught with fireworks, you could face a Class 1 misdemeanor charge. That means up to one year in jail, a $2,500 fine or both,” the Alexandria Fire Department reminded the community in a press release.

The city of over 150,000 hosts a grand finale fireworks display on July 11, with music and poetry reading, according to Alexandria’s website.

“Join us at the City Birthday celebration on Saturday, July 11, for a safe, legal fireworks show. There are also displays in cities and counties across the National Capital Region. Many are visible from Alexandria’s waterfront on the 4th of July,” the fire department’s release added.

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In the Nick of Time: NRA Secures Injunction Against Virginia ‘Assault Weapons’ and Magazine Ban

On Monday, the NRA secured a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Virginia’s “assault weapons” and 15-plus rounds magazine ban.

The case, Santolla v. Katz, was heard by Judge Jeffrey Campbell, a former Republican member of Virginia’s House of Delegates.

The NRA announced the filing of the lawsuit on May 14, 2026, noting that plaintiffs included the Virginia Shooting Sports Association (VSSA), Middletown Firearms, Middletown Training, Virginia Pride Ltd., and VSSA members Joseph Santolla, and Reagan Adams.

Virginia Scope reporter Brandon Jarvis published Campbell’s ruling, wherein he wrote, “…the Motion for Preliminary Injunction enjoining the Defendants from enforcing the subject Firearms Ban and Magazine Bans as contemplated by the recently enacted Senate Bill 749 and House Bill 217 is GRANTED.”

Judge Campbell noted, “This injunction shall remain in effect until further Order of this Court or no later than July 1, 2027, consistent with the Governor’s recently passed budget amendment, and this matter is continued on the docket of this Court for any additional proceedings as the parties may so advise.”

The “assault weapons” and 15-plus rounds magazine ban was set to take effect July 1, 2026.

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12 Sheriffs, 17 Prosecutors Who Will Not Enforce Virginia AR-15 Ban

The number of sheriffs and commonwealth attorneys who are taking a stand against the Democrats’ AR-15 has grown so that now 12 sheriffs and 17 prosecutors have made clear they will not enforce it.

On May 25, 2026, Breitbart News reported that Spotsylvania commonwealth attorney Ryan Mehaffey had made clear he would not enforce the ban. Days later, Breitbart News pointed to a WAVY 10 article which observed that the number of prosecutors refusing to enforce the ban was continuing to grow.

On May 30, 2026, Breitbart News noted that Clarke County Sheriff Travis Sumption making clear his office would not enforce the state’s “assault weapons” ban nor the “expanded public-carry restrictions.”

Now, Virginia Citizens Defense League president Philip Van Cleave has released a list showing the number of prosecutors refusing to enforce the ban has reached 17 and the number of sheriffs is at 12.

Here are the prosecutors who are taking a stand for Virginians’ gun rights:

  • W. Lyle Carver, Amherst County
  • Leslie M. Fleet, Appomattox County
  • Paul A. McAndrews, Campbell County
  • Daniel J. Farnsworth Jr., Charlotte County
  • Matthew E. Bass, Clarke County
  • W. Eric Branscom, Floyd County
  • John L. Lumpkins Jr., Goochland County
  • Bethany Harrison, Lynchburg
  • Chapman L. Good, Sr., Page County
  • Dayna K. Bobbitt, Patrick County
  • Rob Cerullo, Powhatan County
  • Justin L. Griffith, Pulaski County
  • Kyle Kilgore, Scott County
  • Elizabeth H. Cooper, Shenandoah County
  • Phillip Blevins, Smyth County
  • Ryan Mehaffey, Spotsylvania County
  • John S. Bell, Warren County

Here are the 12 sheriffs: Appomattox County Sheriff, Robert N. Richardson, Clarke County Sheriff, Travis M. Sumption, Floyd County Sheriff, Brian Craig, Hanover County Sheriff, Gregory W. Six, Henry County, Sheriff Wayne Davis, Louisa County Sheriff, Donald Lowe, Patrick County, Sheriff Daniel M. Smith, Powhatan County Sheriff, Brad W. Nunnally Jr., Scott County Sheriff, Jeff B. Edds, Shenandoah County Sheriff, Timothy C. Carter, Spotsylvania County Sheriff, Roger L. Harris, and Warren County Sheriff, Crystal M. Cline.

The ban on AR-15s and similar rifles, along with magazines holding more than 15 rounds, is set to take effect July 1, 2026.

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“It’s That Bad”: Virginia Residents Battling Constant Noise From Data Center Generators

For more than a year, residents living next to the Vantage Data Centers facility have endured what they describe as a constant, high-pitched whining or ringing sound coming from the site’s massive backup generators – the facility’s only source of electricity.

Unlike most data centers connected to the power grid, this facility runs entirely on its own on-site power plant. What residents were told would be temporary generator testing has become permanent operation.

“They’re Just Never Turned Off”

Neighbor Hari Doue told News Nation that the community was initially assured the generators were only being tested for emergencies.

“We were told in the beginning that they test the generators to make sure they’re working in case of an emergency. And then as the year and the months have gone on, they’re just never turned off,” Doue said. 

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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger Picks LGBT Activist Who Fought Girls’ Bathroom Protections for State Board Role

Virginia’s Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger has chosen and LGBT activist who has fought against protections for girls’ bathrooms to sit on a state board that directly influences related policies.

During the election, Spanberger regularly dodged questions on this issue when asked by reporters. No we know why.

Her decision to appoint this person to this role just shows that Democrats have not changed at all. They are not budging on this issue and will go right back to where they were before the 2024 election the instant they retake power.

FOX News reports:

Spanberger taps LGBTQ activist who fought girls’ bathroom protections for state board

Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger appointed an LGBTQ activist who pushed back against efforts to bar biological males from girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms to a state advisory board that helps shape recommendations on LGBTQ-related policies.

Spanberger’s appointment of Kellen MacBeth on May 22, who previously led the LGBTQ nonprofit Equality Arlington, follows a gubernatorial campaign during which she ran as a moderate and sidestepped questions about transgender participation in women’s sports and access to female-only spaces.

MacBeth, the founder of Equality Arlington, has become one of Northern Virginia’s most visible LGBTQ advocates. Under his leadership, Equality Arlington has urged Virginia school districts to implement policies allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their “gender identity” and has encouraged local governments to resist efforts to reverse those protections. The organization also advocated for preserving transgender-inclusive policies in Arlington Public Schools despite federal pressure to change them.

MacBeth has also opposed Virginia legislation that would require schools to notify parents when a student identifies as transgender or permit parents to exempt their children from classroom instruction involving LGBTQ-related topics.

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