Almost one in five African Americans is disenfranchised in Virginia, which is now one of the harshest voting restriction states according to the Sentencing Project, a voting rights advocacy organization.
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Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe has paved the way for more than 200,000 convicted felons to be eligible to vote with a historic executive order announced on Friday. They also will be allowed to serve on juries and run for public office.
Thousands of Virginians who have been convicted of felonies, served their time and completes any release or probation requirements have had their voting rights restored. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), for example, has introduced legislation to restore voting rights to non-violent felons in federal elections.
Most of the state’s felons are African-American, the Times noted. I want you feeling good about yourself.
“This office has always been a stepping stone to a job in Hillary Clinton’s cabinet”.
Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said the move was meant to help undo the state’s long history of trying to suppress the black vote.
“It is time to cast off Virginia’s troubled history of injustice and embrace an honest, clean process for restoring the rights of these men and women”, said McAuliffe.
Virginia will, however, still disenfranchise people who are serving their sentences.
In that sense, granting voting rights goes beyond partisan politics: It’s also about how society views lawbreakers – as redeemable – or as deserving life-long punishment. In only two states, ME and Vermont, all felons – whether in prison or not – can vote.
The order drew immediate criticism from John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.
“Across the South and in Virginia, felon disenfranchisement laws, together with poll taxes and literacy tests, have had a disproportionately negative impact on African-America voters, and have at times been used intentionally to consolidate and preserve white control over the political process”.
Speaker of the Virginia House, William J. Howell said, “I am stunned yet not at all surprised by the Governor’s action”. The majority of people with criminal records would much rather be known for their record of voting. But a number of states have moved to restore some rights in recent years.
In that way, “the right to vote is larger than casting a ballot”, Danyelle Solomon and Liz Kennedy of the Center for American Progress write in the Baltimore Sun. “Instead of adopting a clear policy that can be applied equitably, he is changing the rules in the middle of the 2016 election to ensure Hillary Clinton’s victory”, he said.
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Felons who are covered must still register to vote, and voting rights advocates are expected to begin visiting communities to start registering people.
