{"id":696263,"date":"2026-10-31T15:43:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T15:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=696263"},"modified":"2026-10-31T15:43:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T15:43:18","slug":"virginia-restores-voting-rights-for-biscuit-the-dog-says-owner-pooch-died-5-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=696263","title":{"rendered":"Virginia restores voting rights for \u2018Biscuit\u2019 the dog, says owner \u2013 pooch died 5 years ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

A commonwealth\u2019s rights restoration effort begged a question regarding criminal conduct as the governor\u2019s office denied authorizing voting privileges to a constituent\u2019s departed furry companion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt what point does rank incompetence and malfeasance become criminal conduct?\u201d<\/p>\n

Such was the inquiry from\u00a0Virginia Delegate Tom Garrett (R) after a Goochland County resident informed him that a beagle-hound mix that passed away five years prior was mistaken for an ex-convict and restored rights to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a question of whether people who have served their sentence deserve a second chance. This is a question of whether the Commonwealth is exercising one of the Governor\u2019s constitutional powers with even the most basic level of review,\u201d said Garrett to Fox News Digital<\/p>\n

Signed by Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), the letter regarding Biscuit Rigby spoke to her \u201cpolitical disabilities to wit: denial of the right to vote, hold public office, to serve on a jury, to be a notary public, and to ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms,\u201d and restored each of the rights save for the ones regarding firearms.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiscuit was a dog. Biscuit has been dead for five years. Yet an official document bearing the governor\u2019s signature says the executive reviewed the particulars of Biscuit\u2019s criminal case and determined her rights should be restored,\u201d added Garrett. \u201cVirginians deserve an explanation for how this is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his video about the dog, Garrett made note of a previous example of someone receiving a QR code for a mail-in ballot by requesting rights restoration for a \u201cBetty No Last Name.\u201d Similarly, the letter received by the deceased dog\u2019s owner included a link to request a ballot.<\/p>\n

As the lawmaker asked, \u201cAt what point does rank incompetence and malfeasance become criminal conduct?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udcf7\" You\u2019ve heard about dead people getting their voting rights restored in Virginia. You haven\u2019t heard this one.
\nBiscuit Rigsby of Goochland died five years ago. Governor Spanberger just restored her voting rights anyway. There\u2019s an official letter, the state seal, and the Governor\u2019s signature.
\nBiscuit was a beagle-hound mix.
\nHer owner had no idea she could vote. He was even more surprised to learn she was a felon. His comment: \u201cBiscuit was a good girl.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s funny, but it\u2019s true, and it\u2019s a serious problem days before one of the most important midterms of our lifetime.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Garrett (@GarrettInExile) October 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Remarking on Biscuit, Garrett told Fox news Digital that the owner said,\u00a0\u201cTo my knowledge, she was never convicted of a felony, nor did she ever show any interest in voting.\u201d The owner also indicated that a sibling is currently incarcerated, but that should be irrelevant given the restoration of rights only applies to released convicts.<\/p>\n

Having previously defended an errant rights restoration as a \u201cspreadsheet error,\u201d a\u00a0spokesperson for Spanberger insisted,\u00a0\u201cOf course we did not restore the rights of a dog. We cannot disclose this individual\u2019s information, but we can tell you that it is associated with a person with a date of birth and Social Security number.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

About a month ago, Governor Spanberger was told dead Virginians were getting their voting rights restored, along with a QR code that put them one scan away from a mail-in ballot. She said she\u2019d get to the bottom of it.<\/p>\n

Then \u201cBetty, no last name\u201d got a rights restoration and a QR code.<\/p>\n

Then Biscuit, a beagle-hound mix who has been dead for five years, got one too. (She\/her. Do not misgender Biscuit.)<\/p>\n

When a reporter asked about Betty, the Governor\u2019s answer was a \u201cspreadsheet error\u201d with the mail merge. Her explanation for Biscuit sounded eerily similar.<\/p>\n

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. These aren\u2019t the droids you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

If this were Scooby-Doo, we\u2019d be right before the mask comes off. But we\u2019re not there yet. You know how we get there?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Garrett (@GarrettInExile) October 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The news comes ahead of Tuesday\u2019s vote on making the restoration of rights automatic for released prisoners in Virginia. In the meantime, Garrett called for an audit to determine how a dog was identified as a convicted felon and an investigation of certificates and citations issued to determine how many may have been handed out erroneously.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A commonwealth\u2019s rights restoration effort begged a question regarding criminal conduct as the governor\u2019s office denied authorizing voting privileges to a constituent\u2019s departed furry companion. \u201cAt what point does rank incompetence and malfeasance become criminal conduct?\u201d Such was the inquiry from\u00a0Virginia Delegate Tom Garrett (R) after a Goochland County resident informed him that a beagle-hound… Continue reading Virginia restores voting rights for \u2018Biscuit\u2019 the dog, says owner \u2013 pooch died 5 years ago<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-696263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=696263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=696263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=696263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=696263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}