IOPList.Org

'Biscuit' the dog is latest dead felon
to get their voting rights back from Spanberger,
confused owner says




A Southside Virginia lawmaker is demanding an investigation after a constituent received an official
rights-restoration certificate for his dog, Biscuit, a beagle-hound mix from Goochland County that
died about five years ago.

The discovery follows the "Betty No Last Name" controversy in Chesapeake — where a purported
convict lacking a surname had "her" rights restored — and raises fresh questions about the governor's
vetting process just days before voters decide whether to make felons' voting-rights restoration automatic
via an Election Day ballot measure supported by Richmond Democrats.

Del. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham — who received the letter from the constituent who owned the
pet — is now calling for an investigation into how Gov. Abigail Spanberger could have restored
voting and jury-service rights to a deceased animal.


Biscuit's citation restoring their voting rights

**For a larger picture, right click and open in new tab/window



"This is not a question of whether people who have served their sentences deserve a second chance.
This is a question of whether the Commonwealth is exercising one of the Governor’s constitutional
powers with even the most basic level of review," Garrett said.

"Biscuit was a dog. Biscuit has been dead for five years. Yet an official document bearing the
governor’s signature says the executive reviewed the particulars of Biscuit’s criminal case and
determined her rights should be restored. Virginians deserve an explanation for how that is possible."



Biscuit's citation restoring their voting rights page 2

**For a larger picture, right click and open in new tab/window



Biscuit’s owner, who declined to be identified to avoid political backlash, confirmed the letter's
authenticity to Fox News Digital and told Garrett in a statement that the pup
was a "good dog and is greatly missed."

"To my knowledge, she was never convicted of a felony, nor did she ever show any
interest in voting," the owner said.



Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment but did not immediately receive
an official response by publication time.

The owner told Fox News Digital that Biscuit was never sent to the pound or had any other
contact with Richmond that could have resulted in her being placed on the voting rolls.
The owner said a sibling is currently incarcerated but added that the connection is moot
because Spanberger’s stated effort only involves released former convicts.

Garrett noted in a statement that the Spanberger administration said in July that
Secretary of the Commonwealth Candi Mundon-King would be
"proactively identifying Virginians who had lost their rights, confirming that those
individuals were eligible, and restoring their rights," in his words.

Spanberger announced in August that the initial figure of 66,000 had reached 100,000 individuals
who had received restoration of their rights since the Democrat took office in January.




Biscuit the dog is seen at her home.




"The administration told Virginians these individuals were being identified and their
eligibility confirmed," Garrett said in a statement, going on to call for an investigation
into how a restoration certificate bearing Biscuit's name came to be issued.

"The document itself represents that the executive reviewed the particulars of each case.
If a deceased family pet made it through that process as a convicted felon,
then we need to know what was actually reviewed, what databases were used,
what safeguards existed, and how many other erroneous restorations were issued."

An attorney in Fluvanna County when not legislating, Garrett said the Commonwealth must
launch an immediate independent audit of Spanberger’s restoration-of-rights actions and
disclose the underlying record that led to "Biscuit Rigsby" being identified as a convicted felon,
as well as what Spanberger’s office defines as the "review of the particulars" of Biscuit’s case.

Any investigation should also identify how many certificates and citations were issued to deceased,
nonexistent or duplicate humans and require the immediate preservation of relevant data.





Then-Rep. Tom Garrett, R-Va., now a Virginia State Delegate,
is seen leaving the U.S. Capitol.



He said in a statement that his questions are not partisan and that Virginians who support restoring
released felons’ voting rights should be outraged by Biscuit’s case.

"At what point does rank incompetence and malfeasance become criminal conduct?"
Garrett added in a video posted to social media.






Gov. Abigail Spanberger, left; Biscuit the Dog, right


With Virginians set to vote Tuesday on whether to make voting-rights restoration
automatic upon release from incarceration, Garrett is demanding answers about
the administration's existing review process — including how a dog that died five years
ago apparently made it through.