In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Virginia filed a federal lawsuit on April 17, 2020, challenging Virginia’s “witness requirement.” Under Virginia law, any voter who submits an absentee ballot by mail must open the envelope containing the ballot in front of another person, fill out the ballot, and then have that other person sign the outside of the ballot envelope before it is mailed back.

The ACLU and the ACLU of Virginia, along with Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC, a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights law firm, filed a federal lawsuit against the owner of a Chesterfield County apartment complex for application policies that discriminate against black people. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, Inc. (HOME), explains how the blanket criminal record screening policy used at Sterling Glen Apartments is intended to keep African Americans from living there and disproportionately harms people of color.