Judge sides with Gov. Youngkin in Virginia NAACP lawsuit

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A judge sided with Gov. Glenn Youngkin after the Virginia NAACP attempted to sue him.

The organization filed the lawsuit against the Youngkin administration, claiming it violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by refusing to hand over voter rights restoration documents.

The NAACP argued it had the right to those records to see how the governor decided which felons got their rights restored and which didn’t.

The judge said, based on the evidence presented in court, those documents included confidential information and were exempt from the group’s FOIA request, as working papers for the Gov. are protected under the constitution.

It was a victory for the Youngkin administration after the governor faced heavy criticism for enacting a new policy where every felon must apply and be reviewed by Youngkin on a case-by-case basis to be able to vote again.

The process used to be automatic for some, including for non-violent offenders who met specific requirements.

Under Virginia constitutional law, the governor has the sole discretion to restore felons’ voting rights.

“We have the ability to work in confidence in the governor’s office,” Gov. Youngkin said.

The NAACP wanted to ensure transparency on this new policy and requested documents from the application database.

When the governor’s office didn’t hand them all over, the organization filed this lawsuit.

“There’s a shroud of secrecy, and when we are confronted with secrecy, we are concerned that there is something that is hidden that may be inequitable, and that is why we are fighting so hard,” Virginia NAACP President Rev. Cozy Bailey said.

“We had worked with the NAACP, we have given them over 600 pages of documents, and have really tried to find a cooperative way through this. Unfortunately, they were not satisfied,” Gov. Youngkin said.

Bailey says the fight isn’t over.

“I’m not discouraged at all today. We have been fighting this battle on this particular issue for over 6 months, and we have made tremendous gains in what we’re doing,” he said. “Today was a technical issue, if you will, so we’re still going to continue in this quest we have.”

Virginia is one of the only states in the U.S. where the governor has this type of power over voting restoration.

Legislation to address this topic is in the works for the new session next month.

Statement from Virginia NAACP:

“Virginia’s returning citizens, and all Virginians, deserve to know the truth about Governor Youngkin’s rights restoration process and why he has restored voting rights to only a fraction of those eligible. Virginia NAACP has worked tirelessly over the past seven months to obtain public records—records which it is entitled to under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (”VFOIA”)—in order to shine a light on this process, which has a discriminatory impact on Black Virginians and other Virginians of color. It is outrageous that Governor Youngkin continues to fight tooth and nail to withhold key information about this process—including even what information he considers when determining whether to restore an individual’s sacred right to vote.

We are disappointed in Judge Marchant’s limited ruling today that the governor’s restoration of rights database is exempt from production under VFOIA, even in partially redacted form removing applicants’ personal identifying information. This database contains key information, including the information collected about each applicant that informs the rights restoration decision. Moreover, the evidence presented today shows that this database is also used for other purposes—such as communications with applicants and other state agencies—and, therefore, is disseminated outside the Governor’s Office, making at least these portions of the database subject to public disclosure under VFOIA.

We will continue to fight to vindicate our right to review these public records and again call on Governor Youngkin to make public the complete criteria he uses to determine whether to restore an individual’s right to vote and to commit to a process that fairly and promptly restores the rights of all eligible returning citizens.”