See below for video and a few highlights from the League of Women Voters of Loudoun County’s recent forum on the three important constitutional amendments on the ballot this fall in Virginia. The amendments, of course, are:
- Restoration of Rights Amendment (“Provides that every person who meets the qualifications of voters set forth in the Constitution shall have the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth and that such right shall not be abridged by law, except for persons who have been convicted of a felony and persons who have been adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting. A person who has been convicted of a felony shall not be entitled to vote during any period of incarceration for such felony conviction, but upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further action required of him such person shall be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote.”)
- Reproductive Freedom Amendment (“The amendment protects patients and their doctors and nurses from being punished for making such decisions. The amendment allows the state to place restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient’s life or physical or mental health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive.”)
- Marriage Equality Amendment (“requires the equal treatment under the law of a lawful marriage between two adult persons regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons. The amendment also repeals the current provision that defines marriage as only a union between one man and one woman”).
These three amendments aren’t just important, they’re also popular, by the way; according to a Christopher Newport University poll back in late January, for instance, “A majority of Virginians support amending the state’s constitution to guarantee reproductive rights in the state, such as access to abortion and contraception (66% support/strongly support) and to allow felons that have completed their prison sentence to have their voting rights automatically restored upon release (64% support/strongly support).” As for the marriage equality amendment, polling has consistently found that Virginians support same-sex marriage equality by wide margins. So barring anything really weird from the courts (e.g., as we saw with the redistricting amendment), all three of these amendments are heavily favored to pass this November. However, standard caveat that we should never take anything for granted, that we should always run like it’s going to be close, etc.
With that, check out the video of the League of Women Voters of Loudoun County’s recent forum. But first, a few points that jumped out at me:
- On the restoration of rights amendment: “Nationwide, there are over four million people who have been deprived of the right to vote. the this is highly discriminatory and because of the history that you’ve heard from Lisa about what happened in Virginia happened in other states as well. These laws were written and targeted specifically for minority populations. That’s not an accident as you heard. It was explicit…Virginia has been one of the outliers and one of the worst offenders in terms of being stingy straining that quality of mercy very finely when it comes to restoring rights in Virginia…Over 300,000 people are ineligible. This is data as of two 2022. 300,000 people ineligible to vote due to prior conviction. That’s 5% of all eligible voters. You want to talk about a close election and does this make a difference? You do the math. 5% of all voters. It can make a big difference. The rate is even more appalling when you look at the effect on the minority population where it’s over 12%. More than one in 10 of every black potential voter in the state of Virginia cannot vote because of these laws. with the history that you’ve heard from Lisa…The right to vote is fundamental and foundational to all of the rest of our rights. Without your right to vote, the rest of your rights are completely expendable.”
- On the reproductive freedom amendment: “This amendment is going to put patients in control and it doesn’t punish providers. Every pregnancy we know is unique and has unique needs. We’re seeing throughout the south in real time as people’s pregnancy needs are not being able to be addressed and women are dying in real time all the time across the South and in red states. This is going to allow our patients to make personal reproductive health care decisions and protect medical professionals from criminal punishment or fear of criminal punishment so they can always make the choices that are best for their patients. Second, this protects a range of reproductive freedoms. Like I said, this is not just abortion. This is about people being able to make decisions about when to start a family, how to start a family, and being able to get the care they need to start that family. And finally, this stops government interference. This amendment will stop Virginia politicians from taking away our freedom to make our own healthc care decisions, as has happened elsewhere in the South and in many states across the country. We have watched these anti-abortion politicians pass abortion bans and we have watched people suffer because of them. We are going to stop that from happening here in Virginia…We know we are the majority. People who support reproductive freedom are the majority in America, in Virginia. And we know that the anti-abortion extremists love to show up. So, we need to show up just as strong.”
- On the marriage equality amendment: “The first part is remove the ban on same-sex marriage. So that’s the repeal part. It strikes the one man one woman language from the Bill of Rights section 15A where it currently sits. Number two, affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race. So, it establishes marriage as a fundamental right and it ties interracial marriage into the mix as well. And three, it requires all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law. So, it requires the Commonwealth to recognize and treat all marriages regardless of sex, gender, and race as equally valid marriages…This vote really is about creating permanence and safety for thousands of Virginia families, folks who have been marginalized through the years and have finally seen themselves more so in our society making space for them and making their enshrining their safety into our law.”
