Tag: voting

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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California Man Arrested After Police Catch Him Stealing Unvoted Ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona

A man from California was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona, on felony charges after US Postal Inspectors caught him stealing mail, including unvoted mail-in ballots, from a USPS collection box.

The suspect, 26-year-old Richard Anthony Ramos Jr. of Stockton, California, was arrested on July 21 with several ballots in his car.

Notably, the Primary elections in Arizona were also held on July 21.

The scheme reportedly involved using a cardboard box into the collection bin to trap outgoing mail, which he would then fish out.

It is unclear whether his target was the mail-in ballots and what he intended to do with them.

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Jasmine Crockett Criticizes Black People Who Voted for Trump: ‘Like, Really?’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas was recently giving remarks at an event for the National Urban League, where she told a story about a young black woman whose father may have voted for Trump.

It seems inconceivable to Crockett. Democrats always act mystified when black people vote Republican.

It’s also worth noting that this is a typical Crockett moment. She is just overflowing with undeserved self-confidence.

Townhall reports:

Jasmine Crockett Bashes Black Trump Supporters

Soon-to-be former Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30) has a huge problem with black people who don’t vote for her party.

During a recent panel discussion, Crockett recounted hearing from a young black woman who told her that her dad did not want to vote for former Vice President Kamala Harris. “He was like, ‘if I go vote, it’s going to be for Trump.’”

“And she asked him, and I asked, I said, ‘did he vote?’ She was like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t want to ask.’ But nevertheless, One of the things that she said was, ‘my dad said he could trust Trump.’ And I was like, ‘really?’ And so the reality is that that’s not the first time I’ve had that conversation,” Crockett continued.

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White House Nukes Governor “Tampon Tim” Walz Highlighting Minnesota Practice of Allowing Unregistered Voters to Vote if Someone Vouches for Them

The White House communications team lit up Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Friday over Minnesota’s election “vouching” system, which allows same-day voter registration without proof of residency or citizenship. 

The rule allows unregistered voters to arrive at the polling location on election day, register, and cast a ballot without any proof of citizenship or residency, so long as someone “vouches” for them. One individual may vouch for up to eight registrants who do not have the required documentation.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division fired off a letter to the Minnesota Secretary of State earlier this year, seeking records to ensure compliance with federal election laws. The DOJ requested records for all federal elections held in the 22 months prior, including the 2024 general and primary elections. “The Department of Justice is particularly concerned with votes and registrations accepted on the basis of ‘vouching’ from other registered voters or residential facility employees,” the DOJ wrote.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon previously defended the voucher program, claiming, “I cannot recall a single instance of a false vouching because people know they’re making an oath under penalty of perjury.”

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Kansas Supreme Court Rejects Effort to Enforce Election Day Mail Ballot Deadline in 5-2 Vote – Late Ballots Will Be Counted Days After the Election

In a 5-2 decision Thursday, the Kansas Supreme Court declined to intervene and restore the state’s new strict mail-ballot deadline, leaving in place a lower court order that allows mailed ballots received up to three days after Election Day to be counted.

The ruling is a major blow to election integrity efforts by Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Attorney General Kris Kobach just days before the August 4 primary.

Kansas lawmakers, exercising their constitutional authority, passed Senate Bill 4 in 2025. The measure eliminated the three-day “grace period” that had been in place since 2017 and required advance voting ballots to arrive by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.

Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the bill; the Republican-controlled Legislature overrode her. The change restored the traditional Election Day receipt deadline Kansas had used for roughly 150 years before the 2017 experiment.

Left-wing groups including Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Loud Light, and the Disability Rights Center of Kansas immediately sued, claiming the straightforward deadline somehow violated the state constitution’s equal protection, due process, and voting rights provisions.

On July 16, after thousands of advance ballots had already been mailed with clear instructions that they must be received by Election Day, Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom granted a temporary injunction, reinstating the three-day post-Election Day window.

Schwab appealed. The Court of Appeals refused to stay the injunction. Schwab then sought emergency transfer and review from the Kansas Supreme Court.

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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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New Jersey Rejects DOJ’s Request For Records On Noncitizen Voter Registration Error

New Jersey is refusing to hand over information to the U.S. Department of Justice involving a voter registration error that allowed thousands of noncitizens to register to vote in the state.

The DOJ requested the full names, dates of birth, nationalities, residential addresses, and registration dates and locations of 6,600 people involved in the error.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill rejected the DOJ’s request for the data, saying in a letter on Tuesday that state and federal privacy laws prohibit releasing it.

“The request had no legal basis, and I will always protect New Jerseyans’ personally identifiable information,” Sherrill said on X.

Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the DOJ, said the governor’s “refusal to cooperate with federal law enforcement does nothing to protect law-abiding NJ voters.”

“NJ has a legal duty to keep ineligible voters off its rolls, & our request is grounded in that legal authority. DOJ will get this information through all legal means!” she said Tuesday in a post on X.

Sherrill said on July 21 that approximately 6,600 people who indicated they were not U.S. citizens were mistakenly registered to vote because of a software flaw in the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission system.

According to Sherrill, the error affected applicants between June 2023 and June 2024, during the previous administration. While applying for driver’s licenses or state identification cards, the individuals selected “no” when asked on a keypad whether they were U.S. citizens, but they were nevertheless added to the voter rolls due to the software issue.

The governor said a preliminary review found that fewer than 400 of those improperly registered ultimately cast ballots. Those voters included Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters and were spread across New Jersey.

Sherrill said she has directed her chief counsel to investigate how the mistake happened and instructed election officials to remove anyone who was improperly placed on the voter rolls during that timeframe. She said the software problem was corrected in June 2024 but that she only recently became aware of it.

The governor also said the Motor Vehicle Commission administrator she appointed has started replacing the vendor that managed the system.

However, a company that has worked with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle System for more than 40 years suggested the New Jersey government was responsible for the noncitizens being placed on the state’s voter rolls.

IDEMIA, an identification software provider, told The Epoch Times July 22 that the individuals disclaimed U.S. citizenship but also said they indicated “Yes” to wanting to register to vote.

“The voter registration information is transmitted to the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Elections, which is ultimately responsible for verifying eligibility to vote,” the company stated. “Information submitted by IDEMIA must still be validated and adjudicated by the Division of Elections.”

The governor said in the July 21 announcement that she was “appalled” by the failures that allowed the error to occur and vowed that those responsible would be held accountable.

She also accused the Trump administration of trying to “weaponize elections for political gain.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has found that about 278,000 noncitizens were illegally registered to vote in U.S. federal elections after reviewing voter rolls from several states that cooperated and turned over data, according to the White House.

The White House said earlier this month the actual number could be higher because some states did not share their voter files with the federal agency.

The Trump administration has been involved in lawsuits with several states involving access to voter registration rolls.

In April, a U.S. District judge dismissed a lawsuit the Trump administration had filed in Massachusetts to get access to unredacted voter rolls.

The White House said the error in New Jersey “is the direct result of Democrat policies that refuse basic citizenship checks—and exactly why Congress must pass the SAVE America Act immediately,” in a July 21 statement.

The SAVE America Act is a bill that would mandate proof of U.S. citizenship while registering to vote in federal elections, require photo ID verification to vote, and restrict the use of mail-in ballots.

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D.C. Circuit Court Hands Trump Win In Battle Over Mail-In Voting Order

A federal appellate court handed President Trump a decisive win on Tuesday in an ongoing legal battle over his mail-in voting executive order.

In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals shot down Democrats’ lawfare against Trump’s March elections order. That directive, as summarized by the court, “directs the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Postal Service, and other agencies to begin developing new rules and procedures for mail voting in the upcoming midterm and future elections.”

The Democrat plaintiffs filed their lawsuit a day after the order was issued. They subsequently asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a week later to issue a preliminary injunction blocking its enforcement.

The district court rejected that request.

In affirming the lower court’s ruling, the D.C. Circuit panel noted that “while Plaintiffs have identified a number of serious questions concerning the lawfulness of proposed actions if implemented on the threshold of the upcoming federal election, this case likely is unripe for review in its present posture.” In other words, the case is unreviewable at this time because the named agencies haven’t implemented their official rules as required by the president’s order.

“In particular, Plaintiffs’ request for preliminary relief ‘is premised on the threatened impact’ of the Executive Order after it is implemented and if in violation of federal law,” the court ruled. “In addition, the Executive Order, which is not self-executing, directs the agencies to act only to ‘the extent feasible and consistent with applicable law, including but not limited to the Privacy Act of 1974,’ and so requires compliance with the very legal limitations about which Plaintiffs are concerned.”

The appellate court said that plaintiffs may seek relief “[i]f the defendant agencies take steps to implement the Executive Order in a manner that violates federal law or the Constitution.” The panel was comprised of Judges Patricia Millett (Obama appointee), Robert Wilkins (Obama appointee), and Gregory Katsas (Trump appointee).

The ruling was handed down a day after the Trump administration filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a Massachusetts-based judge’s injunction against the mail-in voting order. Similar to the D.C. Circuit, the Justice Department argued that “the injunction is especially indefensible because the agencies are still deliberating over how (if at all) to implement the Order.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who oversees emergency applications from the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, has given respondents until 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 3 to file a response to the government’s application.

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Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Jackson Denies President Trump’s Request to Immediately Reinstate Key Parts of Executive Order on Mail-In Ballots

Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Jackson on Monday evening denied President Trump’s request to immediately reinstate key parts of his executive order on mail-in ballots.

Justice Jackson gave the Democrat-run plaintiff states seven days to respond to Trump’s emergency application.

Last month, a federal judge blocked key parts of President Trump’s executive order on mail-in ballots.

Boston-based US District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, blocked President Trump’s March 2025 executive order, specifically his attempt to create a federal voter list.

In March 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14248: Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.

“Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic. The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election,” the executive order said.

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The Documents Washington Never Wanted Released

The White House has now released a series of declassified election-integrity documents that the administration says expose what it describes as the largest compromise of American voter data in history. The release followed President Trump’s heated nationally televised address Thursday night, where he argued that China systematically acquired sensitive voter information during the 2020 election cycle and that intelligence surrounding the operation was buried inside the bureaucracy rather than presented honestly to elected leadership.

For years, the focus has been on Russia while China quietly expanded its economic, technological, and intelligence footprint throughout the West. China does not think in election cycles. It thinks in decades as the ancient culture understands cycles. Every major strategic objective is pursued patiently through economic leverage, technology, data collection, academia, corporations, and political influence. Elections become merely another avenue for intelligence gathering and long-term strategic positioning.

According to the newly released material highlighted by the White House, Chinese actors allegedly obtained information on roughly 220 million American voter records. The administration claims the information included voter registration data, addresses, party affiliation, and other identifying information that could be used to map voting populations across the United States. President Trump described it as “the largest compromise of election data in history” and ordered further investigations into both the alleged intrusion and the government’s handling of the intelligence.

The administration further alleges that portions of this intelligence never reached the President in full during the 2020 election cycle and that internal disputes inside the intelligence community resulted in information being minimized or withheld. Those claims are now at the center of renewed investigations following the release of the declassified files.

Whether every allegation ultimately withstands scrutiny is now the question investigators must answer. It is important to distinguish between allegations contained in newly released documents and conclusions that have been independently established. Previous U.S. intelligence assessments issued after the 2020 election concluded they did not find evidence that China successfully altered votes or election infrastructure, although there has long been bipartisan concern over Chinese cyber activity and influence operations. Those earlier conclusions are directly challenged by the current administration’s interpretation of the newly declassified material.

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