VA Gov Spanberger accused of trying to register dead felons to receive mail-in ballots

Multiple examples have surfaced on social media accusing Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger of restoring the voting rights of felons and encouraging them to register for mail-in ballots — despite their having been dead for years.

The alleged scandal first came to light with a post showing a recent letter received by the family of Peter Alan Breton.

“I am pleased to inform you that Governor Abigail D. Spanberger has restored your right to vote, to become a notary public, to serve on a jury, and to hold public office,” said the letter, dated Aug. 31, from Secretary of the Commonwealth Candi Mundon King.

“Enclosed is the official grant order that will serve as documentation of Governor Spanberger’s decision,” King added. “As a reminder, all Virginians must be registered to vote in order to cast a ballot. You may register to vote online by visiting the Virginia Department of Elections’ Citizen Portal at [sic] or by scanning the QR Code.”

As an obituary noted, Breton died in 2016. “Pete was surrounded by many loved ones throughout his illness and passage,” it said.

In a comment to the post highlighting the apparent clerical error, X user @SpiritualistTam wrote, “I got the exact same letter for my husband who died in 2013!”

She later affirmed that she, too, was a Virginia resident and had saved the letter.

A third incident also emerged on X, involving an apparent Facebook post by Howard Skip Lambert about his daughter, a convicted felon who died in 2024.

The example was shared by Virginia Beach lawyer Tim Anderson, who pointed out that the accompanying restoration orders suggested Spanberger had “completed review of the particulars of the individual’s case.”

“So that means her team personally vetted this deceased individual and discovered she was dead and found it appropriate to restore her voting rights and provide her instructions on how to online register to vote - knowing she’s dead,” Anderson wrote.

Alternatively, “The order is a form order and mass restored a bunch of felons voting rights in July without reviewing anything,” he added.

By law, Virginia governors are not allowed to conduct a mass restoration of felon voting rights. The existing case law stems from a prior legal challenge against former Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe that was decided in 2016, the same year Breton died.

In Howell v. McAuliffe, the state Supreme Court concluded that McAuliffe had violated the state constitution while attempting a mass-amnesty maneuver intended to benefit his longtime boss, Hillary Clinton, by restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons.

Undeterred, McAuliffe proceeded to individualize the refranchisement of some 173,000 felons before leaving office in 2018.

The alleged current attempt would not mark the first time that state Democrats under Spanberger had brazenly ignored the law in hopes of gaining an electoral advantage.

After trying to push through a constitutional amendment that would gerrymander all but one of the state’s congressional districts blue, the state Supreme Court slapped them down in May, ruling that they had circumvented the constitutionally mandated procedures for passing such a measure.

Virginia is one of only four states (along with Tennessee, Iowa and Kentucky) that currently does not restore the voting rights of felons who have met certain criteria, except by special dispensation of the governor. However, the Democrat-led General Assembly is hoping a constitutional amendment up for a vote in November will change that.

Since taking power in January from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Spanberger has succeeded in restoring the voting rights of an estimated 66,000 felons.

Spanberger, a former CIA agent, claimed while campaigning to be a moderate intent on addressing affordability issues, despite her having voted party-line with the Biden administration nearly 100 percent of the time while serving in Congress.

Her favorability rating has been underwater for much of her first year in office, though recent polls claim she now enjoys a 54 percent approval rating.