With the race in Virginia flipping red to blue and back before the eyes of CNN viewers, reports are trickling out that the state’s late close for Hillary Clinton in one of her key “firewall” states was helped by her old friend, the state’s governor Terry McAuliffe. According to a report in the World Tribune, Gov. McAuliffe “used an autopen to sign thousands of letters granting voting rights to felons, enough to put the swing state in Hillary Clinton’s column.” Governor McAuliffe is a longtime Clinton ally, having served as chairman of both President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign, and Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. The report, which first appeared in the Daily Caller, says that “those who received McAuliffe’s letter also got voter registration forms with pre-paid return postage. No others in Virginia received such a service.”
If the race ends as close as it looks at this moment — about 10:30 pm — this controversial move by the governor will surely wind up in court.