Subject: FLAG: Richmond Times Dispatch: Trump: Giving Virginia felons right to vote is 'crooked politics'
From: "Wei, Shu-Yen" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2016 14:06:13 -0700

Trump: Giving Virginia felons right to vote is 'crooked politics'
<http://www.richmond.com/content/tncms/live/>
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_cff41b5a-a671-59a0-8549-d81bf4f17eb6.html

[Trump on Deflategate: 'Leave Tom Brady alone']<http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_cff41b5a-a671-59a0-8549-d81bf4f17eb6.html?mode=image&photo=0>

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters at a campaign event at Crosby High School in Waterbury, Conn., Saturday, April 23, 2016. Trump must follow up his win in New York with another big night on Tuesday to stay on track to clinch the Republican nomination for president by the end of the primaries. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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Posted: Monday, April 25, 2016 4:30 pm

BY GRAHAM MOOMAW Richmond Times-Dispatch

Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump on Monday blasted Gov. Terry McAuliffe's order restoring voting rights for 206,000 felons, calling it an example of "crooked politics" that could tilt the race in Virginia.

Trump referenced Friday's sweeping executive action by McAuliffe, a Democrat, during a campaign rally in Rhode Island.

"They're giving 200,00 people that have been convicted of heinous crimes, horrible crimes, the worst crimes, the right to vote," Trump said. "Because you know what? They know they're going to vote Democrat. And that could be the swing. That's how disgusting and dishonest our political system is."

McAuliffe has said his order will allow ex-offenders to fully rejoin society and end a harsh voting restriction that has roots in racial discrimination against African-Americans.

The order applies to violent and nonviolent felons. It's difficult to gauge how many of the 206,000 might vote, because the order applies to those who have not applied to have their rights restored and to ex-offenders who may have moved out of the state.

Recent polling showed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, a close McAuliffe ally, beating Trump 44 percent to 35 percent in Virginia.

Clinton praised McAuliffe on Twitter Friday, saying the governor is "continuing to break down barriers to voting."

On Monday, Trump called Virginia "a very close state."

"I would win Virginia. I have a lot of employees, a tremendous amount of property in Virginia," said Trump, who owns a winery in Albemarle County and a golf course in Loudoun County.

Trump donated $25,000 to McAuliffe's 2009 campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Later that year he donated the same amount to Gov. Bob McDonnell, the GOP nominee for governor.

Trump narrowly won Virginia's Republican primary on March 1 over Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has since dropped out of the race. As in other states, Trump hasn't done as well in the behind-the-scenes jockeying for delegates to the party's national convention.

Thirteen of the state's 49 delegates will be chosen at this weekend's state convention at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.

The Washington Post has reported<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/25/to-counter-cruzs-organization-trump-to-personally-court-delegates-at-california-and-virginia-gop-conventions/?postshare=3141461592814686&tid=ss_tw> that Trump is planning to attend the event to woo delegates in person, but the state party has not confirmed that Trump will be involved. In a Twitter message Monday afternoon, the university said there had been "no contact" between the university and the Trump campaign.