At last week’s LCDC meeting, the Loudoun County Democratic Committee passed a resolution in support of the restoration of voting rights for people who have paid their debt to society after committing a crime.

Virginia is one of only two states that permanently revoke a felon’s voting rights after they have served their time unless the felon goes through a laborious restoration process. Gov. McDonnell got some bad press for attempting to further complicate the restoration process with new requirements (essentially, a literacy test) earlier this year.  

This burden on ex-felons is a last glaring remnant of jim crow on Virginia’s law books, and it is to the disgrace of our Commonwealth that it remains in force to this day. We must do something about it, which is why the LCDC joined her sibling Democratic Committees in passing a resolution on the issue last week.

Follow below for the text of the resolution and details on the legislation that will address this disgrace.There is a bill in Congress, the “Democracy Restoration Act” which addresses this historical wrong, and that is what the LCDC voted to support. The text of our resolution is as follows:

The Loudoun County Democratic Committee Endorses the Democracy Restoration Act

WHEREAS, the right to vote is the fundamental right in any Democracy and the chief obligation of citizenship; and

WHEREAS, the sacrifices people endured in pursuit of these rights have included the loss of life, liberty, and their ability to pursue happiness; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealths of Virginia and Kentucky are the only two states in the nation in which felons are disenfranchised for life unless their rights are restored in the form of gubernatorial intervention; and

WHEREAS, over 300,000 people with felony convictions are currently disenfranchised in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, felon disenfranchisement is a relic of the Jim Crow era, enforced along with the poll tax and literacy tests explicitly to disenfranchise African-American males, one in five of whom cannot vote today in Virginia due to this injustice; and

WHEREAS, allowing people to vote after release from prison encourages participation in civic life and instills a sense of community that motivates law-abiding behavior; and

WHEREAS, there are no clear standards for the restoration of voting rights in Virginia and no law dictating the process by which the Governor may choose to restore rights; and

WHEREAS, legislation is pending in the U.S. Congress – the Democracy Restoration Act (S. 1516 and H.R. 3335) – co-sponsored by (among others) Virginia Representatives James P. Moran and Robert Scott, that would restore the right to vote in Federal elections to all felons upon release from prison and would affect about 5 million people nationally.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Loudoun County Democratic Committee (LCDC) urges Governor McDonnell to issue a blanket restoration of voting rights to all felons who have completed their prison terms and completed all conditions of probation and parole; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LCDC urges the passage of a Virginia constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to all felons who have completed their prison terms and completed all conditions of probation and parole; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LCDC urges all members of the Virginia delegation to the U.S. Congress to co-sponsor and vote for the Democracy Restoration Act to restore the right to vote in Federal elections for all felons upon release from prison and completion of all conditions of probation and parole.

Restoring the right to vote is a critical part of reintegration of ex-felons into our community. With a full 300,000 Virginians not only stigmatized but also disenfranchised by their past bad behavior, we as a society give them little incentive to seek paths to productive integration with our economy and community. Voting restoration is part, but not the whole, of an answer.