Sunday, April 27, 2008
Editorial: Ex-felons should have the right to vote
Almost every state automatically restores the voting rights of released convicts. Virginia isn't one of them.
From the RoundTable blog
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Virginia is one of a dwindling number of states that permanently revokes the voting rights of felons, even after they have served their time and paid their debt to society.
Ex-felons can petition to get their rights restored after a number of years, but they must go through a tedious and time-consuming process. In most states, voting rights are automatically restored, either after release or after any probation or parole is served.
Two states -- Maine and Vermont -- even allow inmates to vote.
Forever stripping felons of the right to vote is counterproductive -- and abandons all pretense of rehabilitation. Criminals can turn their lives around, and it is in society's interest to assist that process.
Take Hasan Zarif, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1973. He committed to change and managed to earn a college degree before he was paroled after 17 years.
Now Zarif, who spoke at a recent symposium put on by the Virginia Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Richmond, is chaplain service coordinator for Goodwill of Central Virginia.
Many people take a wrong turn in life. They get involved with drugs. They commit crimes. They get caught and convicted.
And many learn from their mistakes. They do their time and, like Zarif, sometimes come out with an education and a desire to make a difference.
But it took Zarif another 17 years after his release to earn the right to vote again.
Because blacks have higher rates of incarceration than other groups, the ban has had an undeniably disproportionate impact on the black vote.
As a recent New York Times article noted, America incarcerates more of its citizens than any other nation in the world. Nearly 1 in every 100 adults is behind bars.
In almost every other state in the nation, though, inmates have their civil rights automatically restored after they serve their time.
Even Florida is moving toward a more automatic restoration of rights.
It would take a constitutional amendment to change Virginia's current system, and getting that through a General Assembly that prides itself on being tough on crime won't be easy.
Voting is the most basic right of citizenship. The presumption should be that this right will be returned to those who have served their time.
