Virginia governor says he has restored voting rights for 22K people with felony convictions

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced that his administration has restored the right to vote and other civil rights for more than 22,000 people with felony convictions. 

The other rights include the right to serve on a jury, run for public office and become a notary public, his office said in a statement on Wednesday. {mosads}

“Governor Ralph Northam today announced today that since he took office in January 2018, his administration has restored the civil rights of 22,205 Virginians previously convicted of a felony,” the statement said. 

He previously said in February that his administration had restored the rights for more than 10,000 people. 

“Virginia remains one of the few states in the nation that permanently strip individuals of their civil rights after a felony conviction,” Northam said in the statement.

“I’m proud to use my executive clemency power to restore those rights to Virginians who have completed their sentences and returned to their communities seeking a second chance. This is about doing what is fair and right, and is an important part of our ongoing work to build a stronger, more accessible, and more inclusive Commonwealth,” he added.

Northam made headlines earlier this year after an image from his page in his 1984 medical school yearbook surfaced, showing one man wearing blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.