Richmond, VA—Today, representatives from Virginians for Reproductive Freedom (Question One), Virginians for Marriage Equality (Question Two), and Virginians for the Right to Vote (Question Three) spoke at a virtual press roundtable about the three amendments and took media questions. A recording of the roundtable can be accessed at this link.
“We’re so excited that Virginians [were able to make] their voices so strongly heard,” said Han Jones, campaign manager for Virginians for Reproductive Freedom. “Reproductive freedom will not be up for debate. Everyone has seen that Virginians will protect their freedoms, and folks should be careful if they want to try to take those freedoms away. We’re so happy that Virginians got to have their voices heard and got to vote directly on such an important issue, and that our reproductive freedom will be protected for generations to come.”
“Voters last night showed that discrimination doesn’t belong in our constitution and that LGBTQ+ equality is a winning issue when it’s on the ballot,” said Narissa Rahaman, campaign manager of Virginians for Marriage Equality. “We hope our elected officials and lawmakers heed that call, because the voters sent a clear mandate. I want to thank the LGBTQ couples who have never stopped, who knew this was possible, and who have continued to tell their stories for the last 20 years. That decades-long work of storytelling and organizing is what brought us to this moment, where we have been able to achieve this victory.”
“This campaign is about the fundamental right to vote and about the many returning citizens who have laid the foundation in their communities for the restoration of civil rights,” said Amber Brown, campaign manager for Virginians for the Right to Vote. “The power of our coalition was built long before the campaign was formed, and it took everyone within that coalition to organize our efforts into one campaign. We worked hard to gently shift the narrative away from just a conversation about restoration of rights. We wanted the people to understand that the bigger picture: [our amendment] was about saving our democracy by protecting the fundamental right to vote and ensuring our state Constitution reflected it.”
Background:
With all precincts reporting and zero early votes left to count, these are VPAP’s current numbers for the amendments.
- Question One (Reproductive Freedom) passed 62.38% to 37.62% by a margin of 866,281 raw votes
- Question Two (Marriage Equality) passed 57.38% to 42.62% by a margin of 520,364 raw votes
- Question Three (Right to Vote passed 56.47%-43.53% by a margin of 455,584 raw votes