RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond Circuit Court judge sided with Gov. Glenn Youngkin Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by the Virginia NAACP to obtain public records on the criteria used to restore the voting rights of convicted felons.
According to a report from WWBT Richmond, the judge overseeing the case ruled those papers are protected under constitutional law. The Virginia NAACP had argued it was illegal for Youngkin to withhold the records since a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request was made in May.
The lawsuit came after Youngkin's administration enacted a policy where every felon must apply and be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to be able to vote again, a change that came to light earlier this year.
Under Virginia constitutional law, the governor has the sole discretion to restore the voting rights of felons, but the state's prior three governors had gradually made the process easier for felons, starting with Robert McDonnell, a Republican.
In 2013, McDonnell eased requirements and made approval for former prisoners with non-violent felonies "automatic" after serving their sentences. His Democratic successors Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam built on that policy, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of people gaining back the right to vote.
The Virginia NAACP criticized the policy change as "arbitrary" and potentially discriminatory, claiming the process of restoring rights has dramatically slowed under Youngkin and that the criteria used was unclear.
Earlier this year, the organization sought public records detailing how Youngkin decides to restore the voting rights of convicted felons, then filed a lawsuit after claiming that key documents were missing from 600 pages requested from the governor's office.
A spokesperson for Youngkin disputed the claim, saying the governor's office spent months compiling documents per the NAACP's request, including some records the governor "was not required to produce under FOIA laws."
In response to the decision on Tuesday, the Virginia NAACP expressed disappointment, saying in a statement "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."
"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," the statement said.
When reached for comment Wednesday, a spokesperson for Youngkin shared a statement he made to reporters in Roanoke Tuesday morning, before the judge's ruling.
"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," Youngkin said. "Unfortunately, they were not satisfied. I am sure the appropriate judgment will be reached today. We have the ability to work in confidence in the governor's office and again, this was an unfortunate next step after we had really made meaningful attempts to be collaborative and cooperative through this whole process."
WWBT Richmond contributed to this story.