RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia's attorney general says couples planning to get married in the state will not have to disclose their race on their marriage application.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that clerks were notified of the change in an email late Friday, about a week after three couples filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state requirement .
Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring wrote that circuit court clerks must ask people seeking a marriage license their race, but couples can decline to answer the question. Herring says clerks should issue a marriage license regardless of whether an applicant answers the question.
The lawsuit says one Virginia county provided a list of more than 200 potential races to a couple that questioned the requirement. It included "American," "Aryan," "Moor" and "Mulatto." A handful of states still require the information.
