(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Eastern District of Virginia Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr. ruled today that Virginia voters may utilize expanded access to voting by absentee ballot when he denied a complaint challenging state election officials who proposed relaxing absentee voting provisions to lessen voters’ exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision marks another major loss for True the Vote, an organization that has filed multiple lawsuits seeking to restrict access to the mail-in voting process. The following is a statement from John Powers, counsel, at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
“Judge Alston’s decision today protects the right to vote of Virginia voters who are concerned about voting in person and risking their health in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telling voters to knowingly risk their health and their lives to exercise their right to vote is an attack on voting rights, plain and simple. It was true in 1920, and it’s true in 2020.”
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