Threat to recently instated Virginian felon voting rights for thousands could reset reforms

A little more than a week after Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced he would use his executive powers to restore to felons in the state the right to vote — an act that was expected to enfranchise more than 200,000 people — the Republican-led legislature announced Monday it would challenge the act in court. Republicans…

Republican lawmakers in Virginia are threatening to sue to keep more than 200,000 felons from voting in the 2016 presidential election. The lawmakers object to Governor Terry McAuliffe’s executive order, announced in April, allowing felons who have served their time and completed their parole to register to vote. “Governor McAuliffe adopted an unprecedented view of executive…