More General Assembly newsRICHMOND
The Virginia Senate passed one measure, and defeated another, that would give the legislature constitutional power to restore voting rights to non-violent felons who lost them due to criminal convictions.
A constitutional amendment, SJ273, sponsored by Sen. Yvonne Miller, D-Norfolk, advanced out of the Senate on 27-13 vote today. Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, sponsored another measure that would automatically restore voting rights once a felon completes their sentence and subsequent parole or probation.
His measure, SJ354, died on a 19-19 vote. Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who presides in the Senate, broke the tie and voted against it.
A few Republicans criticized the proposal, though Sen. Ken Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, took a more moderate tone, noting that it may be appropriate for the General Assembly to have a role in restoring voting rights.
Speaking in support of the plan, Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, said legislators should allow the fate of the measure to be weighed by the public, not killed internally.
"Some people think this is a race question. It's not," said Marsh. "More than half the people who are barred are not African Americans. They're not minorities."
While Miller's plan must travel a difficult path to become law. The first step is being approved by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates that has already killed similar proposals this year.
Miller has sponsored similar proposals in past years with little success.
Constitutional amendments must pass the General Assembly twice, with an election in between, and then be placed on the ballot and approved by voters to take effect.
Under current law, individuals whose voting rights have been stripped due to a felony conviction may apply for restoration. Virginia's governor has the authority to approve those applications.
Through December, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine had restored the rights of 2,717 individuals. His predecessor, now U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, restored rights for 3,486 people during his tenure as governor.
Jim Gilmore and George Allen, the two Republican governors that preceded them, restored rights for 238 and 460 individuals, respectively.
Restoration advocacy groups rank Virginia as one of the states with the most restrictive rules for regaining voting rights.
Thirty-eight states have varying restoration procedures in places, according to the non-profit Project Vote organization.
The American Civil Liberties Union estiamtes that at least 5 million Americans have lost the right to vote.
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ex-felons and voting
All adult citizens who have not been judged legally incompetent should be allowed to vote. There is no moral authority to expect someone to obey the laws if that person has been barred from having a voice in what the laws should be. Virtually all other nations let felons as well as ex-felons vote. Yes, they are still citizens even if they are in prison. We don't punish people for crimes by taking away their citizenship. Voting and citizenship should be linked.
Republicans will do ANYTHING...
Republicans will do ANYTHING to deny a person the right to vote, especially if they think the person will vote Democtatic.
Once a person repay's their debt to society, they deserve the right to vote. Most Republicans believe in "punishment until death" unless of course, the shoe's on the other foot. (Does Scooter LIbby, Bob Packwood, et. al. ring any bells).
Face it REPUBLICANS, your worthless excuse of a president and V.P. lost the election by a landslide. All your party has now is Rush Limbaugh (what a joke), 8 years of failed policy, 2 wars, a deficit of a magnitude never before seen in U.S. history, and Bushisms.
How pathetic....
Leave it alone
I'm sorry, 95% of the felons couldn't care less about voting. Leave it alone. If they wanted to be so upstanding and a stout American and vote, they should have thought about that before they acted all crazy and committed a felony. Just how freaking liberal and forgiving can we get? We don't want the opinions of a felon helping to decide who gets in office. They don't deserve to be part of that process. They know it going into the process of becoming a felon, they worked hard for the status of not being able to vote. Let them cherish it.
it's people like this that
it's people like this that cause the world so much pain and don't believe in change. i pray for these types of people, little do they know they are surrounded by felons and wow they all are not bad people.
slanders & party nit-picking
Unless the crime is violent--which is precluded by this bill--the citizen should not receive a life sentence.
Exile from the republic seems like unusual punishment to me.
More Democrap
Democrats will do anything to get a vote. Lie, cheat, steal, and even let criminals out of prison. Next they will be campaigning in the jails. Can't you just imagine Tim Kaine soliciting prisoners votes..... you have got to be kidding.
Felons
I find it most interesting that it is the Democrats that are so hot on this issue. They know that everone they restore voting rights to is a potential vote for their party.