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Ballot Explained

Virginia ballot measure · November 3, 2026

Virginia Question 3, explained

Right to vote and automatic restoration after incarceration. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.

The official wordingWhat appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended (i) to provide for the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, (ii) to revise the qualifications of voters so that a person convicted of a felony is not entitled to vote during his period of incarceration but is automatically invested with the right to vote upon release from incarceration, and (iii) to update the existing prohibition on voting by persons found to be mentally incompetent to instead apply to persons who have been found to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting?

What it actually means

In Virginia a felony conviction costs you the vote for life unless the governor personally restores it — the Department of Elections describes gubernatorial restoration as "the only means of getting back the right to vote after a felony conviction." Different governors have used that power very differently. This amendment would replace it with an automatic rule: you cannot vote while incarcerated for a felony, and you get the vote back on release without applying to anyone. It also writes a fundamental right to vote into the constitution and narrows the disqualification for incapacity so it applies only to a court finding that a person does not understand the act of voting.

Y

If you vote YES

  • Article II, Section 1 would state that every person meeting the citizenship, age, residency and registration requirements "shall have the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, and such right shall not be abridged by law," with only two exceptions.
  • A person convicted of a felony would lose the vote only during a period of incarceration for that conviction, and on release would be "invested with all political rights, including the right to vote" without any further action.
  • With the right to vote restored, a person also regains the right to serve on a jury, hold elective office and be a notary public, according to the Department of Elections' explanation.
  • The governor's restoration power would no longer be the only route back, and would no longer determine who votes.
  • The incapacity disqualification would apply only where a court has found that the person lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting, rather than to anyone adjudicated incapacitated for any reason.
  • A person convicted of a felony but never incarcerated would keep the vote throughout.
N

If you vote NO

  • Article II, Section 1 keeps its current rule: a felony conviction disqualifies a person from voting for life "unless his civil rights have been restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority."
  • Restoration continues to depend on whoever is governor and on that governor's chosen process, which has ranged from case-by-case review to blanket action and back.
  • A person convicted of a felony who never serves a day in prison still loses the vote until a governor acts.
  • The broad disqualification for anyone a court finds incapacitated stays, with restoration only by a court, and the constitution keeps the older term "mentally incompetent."
  • Virginia's constitution continues to contain no affirmative right to vote.
The numbers that matter
How rights are restored now
Only by action of the governor

Virginia Department of Elections explanation for voters

When the lifetime disqualification was written in
The 1902 Virginia Constitution

Cited by State Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker in support of the amendment

Rights that return with the vote
Jury service, elective office and serving as a notary public

Virginia Department of Elections explanation for voters

Votes needed to pass
A simple majority of votes cast on the question

Article XII, Virginia Constitution

What each side says3 for, 3 against — quoted, not summarised

Why supporters say YES

  • "The disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions is a relic of Virginia's Jim Crow past and was intentionally inserted into the 1902 Virginia Constitution to disenfranchise as many black voters as possible. Automatic restoration of voting rights encourages voting and civic engagement, which research shows benefits reentry, reduces recidivism and makes communities safer."

    — State Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5)

  • "This amendment is about ensuring that every eligible Virginian has their voice heard at the ballot box. Our democracy is strongest when everyone participates, and this measure ensures that no Virginian is unjustly excluded from the electoral process."

    — State Sen. Mamie Locke (D-23)

  • "What's beautiful about being a Christian is you step into a new identity with Christ, and that's what we want for people who have a criminal record. We don't want that to be their permanent identity. We want them to provide for their families, to pay taxes, and yes, to vote."

    — Heather Rice-Minus, president and CEO, Prison Fellowship

Why opponents say NO

  • "I, like thousands of others, a few of which we've heard from, went through a lengthy deliberative process to regain my rights that started with completing my court-imposed sentence in its entirety, including paying restitution to the victims and fines. I was incentivized to be a better member of society because I knew there was a process."

    — Former State Del. Paul Milde III (R-64)

  • The amendment "also applies to those people who face no other possible conviction itself that they also essentially never lose their right to vote. … Regardless of their felony conviction, if they never go to jail, they just can keep voting, and there's no other consequence."

    — Former State Del. Todd Gilbert (R-33), former Speaker of the House of Delegates

  • "Felons' rights to vote is one question. Letting mentally incapacitated people vote is something much different. This is not a 'good intention' amendment. This is about people who don't know what year it is still being able to vote … by of course someone working in the nursing home."

    — Former State Del. Tim Anderson (R-83)

What's genuinely uncertain
  • How many Virginians would regain the vote is not stated in any official estimate we could locate; the number depends on how many people with past felony convictions have not obtained restoration.
  • The amendment ties the loss of the vote to incarceration rather than to completing a sentence, so probation, parole, fines and restitution would no longer bear on it. Opponents treat that as the central flaw; supporters as the point.
  • How courts would apply the new "capacity to understand the act of voting" standard, and what would happen to people already disqualified under the old incapacity rule, is not spelled out.
  • This amendment draws support that crosses the usual lines: the Virginia Catholic Conference, Prison Fellowship and Americans for Prosperity back it, alongside the ACLU of Virginia, the Virginia NAACP and the League of Women Voters, and one Republican delegate is listed among its supporters.
  • The stated Jim Crow origin of the provision is a matter of historical record cited by supporters; opponents' arguments address the mechanism rather than that history.

The bottom line

Whether the vote should come back automatically the day someone leaves prison, instead of depending on a governor's decision — an end to lifetime disenfranchisement, against losing a process opponents say rewards completing a sentence in full.

One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.

Sources (3)The numbers in the text above link here
  1. 1Proposed Constitutional Amendment, Question 3 — Virginia Department of Elections — elections.virginia.gov
  2. 2November 2026 Proposed Constitutional Amendments and Local Referenda — Virginia Department of Elections — elections.virginia.gov
  3. 3Virginia Question 3, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Upon Release Amendment (2026) — Ballotpedia — ballotpedia.org

Checking it against the official text

The Virginia Department of Elections publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.

Confirm this with the official source

Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Virginia Department of Elections.

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