Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed the order in April. (Via Twitter)

The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled 4-3 that an executive order to restore the voting rights of felons who completed their sentences was unconstitutional.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed the order on April 22, making more than 200,000 people suddenly able to vote, serve on a jury, become a notary, and run for office. By mid July, the governor announced on Twitter, more than 11,000 people had signed up to vote. “This is why Virginia is the greatest democracy in the world and I thank you folks for signing up. Let’s keep it going,” McAuliffe said in a video message.

Instead, the Court sided with state Republicans who challenged the order and directed the commonwealth’s Department of Elections to “cancel the registration of all felons who have been invalidly registered” by August 25.

Of those affected by McAuliffe’s executive order, a government analysis showed that non-violent offenders accounted for 80 percent of the total, and that African Americans were disproportionately represented (they make up 20 percent of Virginia’s population, but account for 45.9 percent of the group whose voting rights were restored). Around 65,000 people finished serving their time 10 years ago—22,000 of whom passed the 20 year mark.