3 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS WILL BE ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER…

“NOVEMBER MIDTERMS”

STAY INFORMED! VOTE YES X 3 !

VOTE YES X 3 NOVEMBER 3RD!

The three ballot questions deal with reproductive freedom, marriage and voting rights for people convicted of felonies.

• The first question would add a fundamental right to reproductive freedom to the Virginia Constitution.

  It would protect decisions involving prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion, miscarriage management and fertility care. The amendment would allow Virginia to regulate abortion during the third trimester but would require exceptions when a physician determines an abortion is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or when the fetus is not viable. Virginia’s Constitution currently does not explicitly guarantee a right to reproductive freedom.

• The second question deals with marriage.

  Virginia’s Constitution still contains language defining marriage as between one man and one woman, although that provision has not been enforceable since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015. The amendment would remove that language and establish a right for two adults to marry regardless of sex, gender or race. It would also require Virginia to recognize lawful marriages equally.

• The third question would change when people convicted of felonies can vote.

  Under the amendment, a person convicted of a felony would be unable to vote while incarcerated but would automatically regain voting rights upon release. It would also establish a fundamental right to vote in Virginia and change the Constitution’s language concerning people who lack the capacity to understand the act of voting.

  The current system has already changed this year. A federal court ruled in January that, under the Virginia Readmission Act, people can lose their voting rights only for felony offenses that correspond to felonies recognized at common law in 1870.