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Our call — vote NO
The measure
Question 3 is a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on Virginia's November 3, 2026 ballot. Today, a Virginia felony conviction costs a person their political rights — voting, jury service, running for office, serving as a notary — for life, unless the governor individually restores them. Question 3 would provide that a felon loses the right to vote only while incarcerated, and that upon release from incarceration all political rights are automatically "invested" again, with no application and no further action. It also declares that every qualified person has a "fundamental right to vote" that "shall not be abridged by law," and replaces the mental-incompetence voting bar with a narrower standard: a court finding that the person lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting.
What YES does
A yes vote makes restoration automatic at the prison gate — before parole, probation, or restitution are completed — and constitutionalizes a right to vote that future laws may not abridge.
What NO does
A no vote keeps restoration an individual act of the governor, who can weigh each case.
The math
A fiscal impact statement was issued by the Department of Planning and Budget and is linked from the measure's Ballotpedia page; no dollar figure is published on the page itself.
OUR CALL
Our call: NO.
Restoration of rights is a good and American idea — when the sentence is served. This amendment restores the vote, jury service, and eligibility for office at the moment of release, regardless of unfinished parole, probation, or restitution owed to victims, and it strips out the case-by-case judgment the governor's restoration process provides. Worse, the blanket "shall not be abridged by law" language ties the hands of every future legislature that might set reasonable completion conditions. Redemption, yes; automatic, unconditional, and constitutionalized at the prison gate, no.
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Sources
- Ballotpedia — Virginia Question 3, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Upon Release Amendment (2026) — https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia_Question_3,_Voting_Rights_Restoration_for_Felons_Upon_Release_Amendment_(2026) (accessed October 25, 2026)
- Ballotpedia — 2026 ballot measures — https://ballotpedia.org/2026_ballot_measures
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.