On Wednesday, a federal appeals court determined that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s case-by-case approach to voting rights restoration does not violate the constitution, a blow to criminal justice and voting rights advocates who say Youngkin’s strategy amounts to selective disenfranchisement.

Virginia is the sole state to retain a Jim Crow-era law permanently stripping the right to vote from a person convicted of a felony. To earn it back, they must petition the Secretary of the Commonwealth Kay Coles James, who previously told legislators her office individually investigates each case before restoring a person’s civil rights.

The petition system, introduced by Youngkin in December 2022, marked a change from prior governors, who handled the restorations automatically.

Shortly after the change,

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