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Virginia voters have approved two major changes to the state's constitution, expanding abortion protections and automatically restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions once they are released from prison, according to Associated Press race calls on election night, Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Ballot Question 1, the reproductive freedom amendment, was called shortly after 9 p.m., with "Yes" leading by 60.9 percent to 39.1 percent in early returns. It establishes a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, covering decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management and fertility care, and it shields patients and health care providers from criminal prosecution for those decisions.
Under the amendment, abortion remains legal through the second trimester. The state may restrict abortion in the third trimester, but not when a physician determines it is medically indicated to protect the patient's life or physical or mental health, or when the fetus is not viable.
Ballot Question 3, the voting rights amendment, was called at 9:34 p.m., with "Yes" leading 54.7 percent to 45.3 percent in early returns. It creates a fundamental right to vote in Virginia and automatically restores voting rights to people convicted of a felony once they are released from incarceration. People still in prison cannot vote.
The change replaces a system under which a felony conviction stripped a person of the right to vote for life unless the governor restored it. Following a federal court ruling earlier this year, only convictions for murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter now result in losing voting rights, according to the state Department of Elections.
Governor Abigail Spanberger cheered the reproductive freedom result as a critical step following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, saying that because Virginians used their voices at the ballot box, these rights will now be enshrined in the constitution.
A third amendment on the same ballot, on marriage equality, also passed. It removes language defining marriage as only between a man and a woman and guarantees that two adults can marry regardless of race, gender or sex.
To reach the ballot, each amendment had to pass the General Assembly twice, with an election of the House of Delegates in between. The amendments are scheduled to take effect on January 1, and all results remain unofficial until certified by the state.
The reproductive freedom amendment still faces a court challenge, with a hearing scheduled for November 13 in Tazewell County in a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the results over legislative procedures and ballot language. The decisions have reignited debate over abortion policy, voting eligibility and the future direction of the state.
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