A Republican-led House of Delegates committee voted Tuesday to block a pending constitutional amendment that would automatically restore voting rights to felons once they regain their freedom. 

If it holds, the decision will prevent Virginia voters from weighing in on the issue in a ballot referendum this fall, a major setback for voting-rights advocates who have spent years pushing to end Virginia’s lifetime disenfranchisement policy for people convicted of felonies, which falls disproportionately on Black communities.

Some Republicans and conservative groups supported the proposal, which had passed the General Assembly last year under Democratic control and needed to pass again in order to go to voters. But its opponents won out an early-morning subcommittee meeting, where it was defeated on a 5-4, party-line vote.

That vote came despite support from a diverse coalition that included the American Conservative Union, Americans for Prosperity Virginia, the ACLU of Virginia, the Legal Aid Justice Center, the League of Women Voters of Virginia, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, the Virginia Catholic Conference and the Virginia NAACP. No one spoke in opposition.

Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, one of the amendment’s sponsors, said the vote appears to be the end of the line for the amendment for the immediate future.

“It’s extremely disappointing when you see this support that’s across the political spectrum,” Herring said. “For a lot of people it’s a question of faith and just forgiveness.”

The subcommittee was unswayed by conservative testimony in favor of the amendment.

“’We want to reintegrate people that have served their time that may have kids in school, that may be productive members of society, but can’t have a voice,” said Kaitlin Owens, deputy director of advocacy at the American Conservative Union’s Nolan Center for Justice. “This is a way we can do that.”

The Democratic-controlled state Senate can send over its version of the proposal for another vote in the House. But it’s unclear if the outcome in the subcommittee would be any different the second time.

The apparent failure of the effort to change the felon disenfranchisement policy in the state Constitution means ex-offenders will have to rely on Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to restore their voting rights. The Youngkin administration had not weighed in on the proposed amendment making that process automatic.

(Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the Virginia Mercury)