Today, the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) announced the launch of a digital ad campaign to draw attention to Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment and Virginia Republicans' systematic effort to restrict voting rights in the Commonwealth. The campaign also includes ads to highlight Governor McAuliffe and Democrats' tireless effort to protect the right to vote.

The digital ads will target and engage Virginians through online and social platforms across desktop and mobile devices. The ads will run as part of DPVA's larger digital media strategy to inform Virginians on issues and candidates that affect Virginians lives each and every day.

Ad #1 Text: Don't let Tommy Norment & Republicans Take us Back to Jim Crow on Voting Rights

Ad #2 Text: Stand With Gov. McAuliffe and Democrats Fighting to Protect Your Voting Rights

"Tommy Norment and Virginia Republicans will stop at nothing to erode voting rights and scapegoat felons who have re-entered their communities by permanently closing the door on redemption," said Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker. "Virginia Republicans don't want certain people to vote and it's up to Democrats to reveal the truth behind their cynical measures that parallel Jim Crow tactics from a dark period in our Commonwealth's history."

BACKGROUND:

Virginia Republicans boast a long and methodical history of restricting voting rights in the Commonwealth. Most recently, they concocted a partisan ploy to hold Governor McAuliffe in contempt of the Supreme Court of Virginia ruling that stripped 13,000 newly-registered voters of their civil rights. The following day, Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment filed a Constitutional Amendment that would permanently marginalize violent felons - a move that was deemed an "essentially racist project" by the Washington Post Editorial Board.

Despite the fact that 65 percent of Virginians support restoration of rights efforts, Virginia Republicans refuse to represent the will of their constituents and barrel forward with their cynical mission to restrict the fundamental right to vote at every opportunity.