There is no good reason to deny citizens who’ve served time for committing crimes — even horrible crimes — the right to vote. In Virginia, though, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has decided that his administration will choose which Virginians convicted of felonies should be allowed to vote.
What criteria is Youngkin using to determine who is entitled to cast a ballot? Only he knows. Apparently, he’s going to balance “grace” with concerns for “public safety.”
What criteria is Youngkin using to determine who is entitled to cast a ballot? Only he knows.
Youngkin exercising this kind of discretion matters on the state and national level because it can factor into which political party wins elections in Virginia, including who wins the White House in 2024. But its impact on individual Virginians trying to fully re-enter society is even more significant. A person’s civil rights ought not be subject to the discretion of any politician, especially not one believed to be eyeing a White House run.
As the Virginia Mercury reports, in making people who’ve been released from prison proactively apply for the restoration of their voting rights, Youngkin is breaking a precedent followed by his three immediate predecessors (a Republican and two Democrats) who oversaw the automatic restoration of voting rights for at least certain groups of former prisoners. What’s more, Youngkin’s administration reportedly changed the policy without announcement and only acknowledged it after state Sen. Lionell Spruill, a Democrat, asked why the pace of voting rights restoration had appeared to slow down.
Former Gov. Ralph Northam restored voting rights to 126,000 Virginians (an average of 31,500 people a year) during his four-year term as governor, the Virginia Mercury reports. Youngkin, during his first year, restored such rights to only 4,300 people. That’s an 86% decrease.
“Each applicant is different and we utilize our partners at the Virginia Department of…
Read the full article here
