Ex-felons getting the right to vote in Virginia, one by one
In a matter of months, Gov. Mark R. Warner will have restored civil rights to more ex-convicts than any other governor in Virginia's modern history.
Warner, a Democrat, has restored voting and other rights to more former state convicts during the past two years than the past two Republican governors -- Jim Gilmore and George Allen -- did during their combined eight years in office.
Not since Gov. Charles S. Robb, a Democrat who served from 1982 to 1986, has any governor restored civil rights at such a pace.
"As long as I'm governor, this is going to be our approach," Warner said this week. In Virginia, anyone convicted of a felony loses certain rights, including the right to vote, hold public office, serve on a jury or act as a notary public. The state is one of only seven where felons have their voting rights taken away for life.
However, the governor has the discretionary power to restore all citizenship rights, except for the right to possess a firearm. Felons do not become eligible for rights restoration until years after they have completed any sentence. -- Warner restoring rights to felons at quick pace (HamptonRoads.com/Pilot Online)