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Civil rights and religious groups have been urging Tim Kaine to provide a dramatic coda to his term as governor. They want him to restore, by executive order, the voting rights of roughly 300,000 residents who have felony convictions.
Virginia and Kentucky are the two most restrictive states in the country when it comes to restoring voting rights for felons, according to The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit research and advocacy group. Most states allow felons to regain the vote after the completion of a prison term. The process in Virginia is needlessly cumbersome, making it difficult for those freed from prison to easily return to full citizenship.
This page has consistently urged streamlining the restoration process, which is the purview of the governor. Terminating voting rights is a vestige of this state's ugly, racist past that denied blacks the ballot.
Carter Glass, a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901 and 1902, had stated that the plan that included felon disenfranchisement laws "will eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this state in less than five years... " Poll taxes and literacy tests added to the obstacles.
However, the current governor should not make such a momentous move in his final days in office. Though Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell wants to tighten the limits on felony restoration, that's no reason for Kaine to radically modify the procedure.
The groups urging blanket restoration include the state branches of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and League of Women Voters, as well as the Rutherford Institute. Their objective is sound. They believe easier voting restoration would help stem recidivism and give individuals a greater stake in their civic duties. The current process hurts most of those freed felons who want to be fully part of their communities.
The move to ease restoration should come from the General Assembly, working with the governor. McDonnell could lead on this issue; in fact, the Republican would probably find less resistance to such an overhaul than Kaine, a Democrat, ever would. The current governor has restored the rights of about 4,300 people, more than any previous state executive.
It's unfortunate that McDonnell seems wedded to the current process. After all, you can be tough on crime and still acknowledge the benefits of reducing the likelihood that people will end up behind bars again and again.
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Voting reduces crime?
I've never heard that restored voting rights help stem recidivism.
" ... the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and League of Women Voters, as well as the Rutherford Institute ... believe easier voting restoration would help stem recidivism."
But who am I to argue with such well-grounded, truthful, and unbiased organizations?
New bumper sticker: "Voting reduces crime."
That's pretty good!
If statistics were used illogically it would work. Those who vote are much less likely to be a criminal, so that's gotta be how we fix it! If we just give them their right to vote they won't rape us anymore! Forget the fact that they didn't vote because they cared about society so much that they got busy raping and stealing. That is in the past. Two other options are, "Education reduces crime" and "Wealth reduces crime"... We'll just give 'em diplomas and money along with their voting rights! I'm on board now!
Oh, you're serious!
I thought it was tongue-in-cheek! It's still funny. Political science suggests that when income and education are taken into account, there is very little difference in voter turnout between the races. Your quote from the early 1900s was beautiful because it completely reflects the sentiment here in 2010! This certainly WAS a race issue years ago, but please stop with the race stuff now. We have a black president with a Muslim name. Poor, uneducated, "darkey" criminals don't need any more charity than poor, uneducated, "white trash" criminals. Here's a novel idea, let's NOT give them their voting rights back until they prove to society that they can play nice. I don't care how long it takes. They owe US, we don't owe them, white or black. However, if you want to tell the truth and suggest that the Democrats need this, then I'll listen. You can even make it about race, because it would be true. About 90% of black voters vote Democrat, so maybe it's just about who benefits from loosening of the restoration laws, right?