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Earlier this afternoon, VA Gov. Abigail Spanbeger spoke at the March on Washington 2026/Defend the Vote event; see below for video and highlights from what she had to say (bolding added by me for emphasis of key points):
- “...about six months into my administration, we made a little news. You see, I had taken the action of restoring the voting rights of 66,000 Virginians. People who had previously been convicted of a felony, had served their time, returned home, and simply wanted the dignity of being able to fully participate in our democracy. The right to vote is about more than a ballot. It’s about whether we believe that every person should have a voice in our democracy. And I do. It’s about whether we believe our fellow citizens deserve the dignity of being heard. And I do. It’s about whether we believe that we can create change when we unite our voices. And I do. And it’s about whether we believe that our votes matter. And I know we all do.”
- “Right now in 2026, Virginia is one of three states in this country that permanently strips voting rights from citizens with felony convictions. And one person alone has the authority to restore those rights. The governor. The governor has the sole discretion over whether the restoration process is transparent or done behind closed doors. Whether it is easy to apply or deliberately complicated. The governor has the sole discretion over whether the voices of some Virginians can be heard at the ballot box. And my friends, make no mistake, that system, that process is a shameful relic of Virginia’s Jim Crow past. In our democracy, our vote is how we make our voices heard. And the proof of that is in the fact that people have worked so hard throughout history to deny others the vote to silence their voice.”
- “… for as long as there have been people trying to silence others, there have been generations of Americans fighting for the rights of others. And that is true in Virginia. It was in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where the Freedom Riders made their very first stop on their way on their way south. It was in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, that Dorothy Irene Height was born. She became an essential leader for civil rights. And 63 years ago, she stood on this platform as Dr. King delivered his dream for our country.”
- “And 26 years later, it was in counties across our Commonwealth that Virginians elected L. Douglas Wilder, the first Black governor in the United States of America. This history continues today because right now in the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, Virginia has elected a record number of Black legislators. and we have elected a record number of women. Virginia has our first Black Speaker of the House. And in 2025, Virginians elected our first Black attorney general. We elected the nation’s first Muslim woman to statewide office as our lieutenant governor. And we elected our first woman governor.”
- “All of that…happens because of voting, because of people using their voices at the ballot box. And despite all of the wonderful progress we have made, this struggle is not over. The work is not done. In just the last few years alone, the United States Supreme Court has dismantled so many of the protections provided by the Voting Rights Act. States across the country have used that opening to make it harder to vote. Closing polling places, purging voter roles, erecting new barriers where the old ones were supposed to have been torn down. And we have a president who continues to lie repeatedly, verifiably, shamelessly about the results of an election he lost. We have a president and a complicit Congress who have used those lies to justify efforts to undermine the basic machinery of American democracy and keep Americans from voting. And it is shameful because the people trying to stop their fellow Americans from voting in the same cynical project are trying to take away our health care, cut the SNAP benefits that feed hungry children, and pull dollars out of our kids’ schools. All while trying to silence the voices of dissent that are most powerfully heard at the ballot box.”
- “To the Virginians here on the National Mall and to those watching at home this November, we have the power to right a wrong in our Commonwealth. If you believe, as I do, that someone who has paid their debt to society and is working hard to create a new life deserves the dignity of having their right restored, vote yes on Virginia’s constitutional amendment to ensure automatic restoration of voting rights into the future. Now, when I began speaking, I said that six months into my term, we had restored the rights of 66,000 eligible Virginiaians. Well, here is an update for you. As of 2 p.m. yesterday, my administration had restored the rights of 100,000 eligible Virginians.”
- “As we leave this place, let us view today’s call to action, to organize, to vote, to believe, and even dream as our responsibility to ourselves, to our children, and to our ancestors. So, let me ask you, do you believe that every person should have a voice in our democracy? Do you believe our fellow citizens deserve the dignity of being heard? Do you believe that we can create change when we unite our voices? And do you believe that our votes matter? Well then, my fellow Americans, let’s vote this November and let’s win!”
