Virginia Beach Civil Rights and Faith Groups to Hold Restoration of Voting Rights Breakfast

Community Members Ask Governor Kaine to “Stop Waffling” and Sign an Executive Order Restoring Voting Rights for Former Felons

Virginia Beach, VA- With one week left in Governor Tim Kaine’s term, local civil rights and faith-based groups will join together Friday morning for a waffle breakfast and to ask the Governor to “Stop Waffling” and sign an executive order granting blanket restoration for former felons in Virginia.

Local residents will generate calls into the governor’s office asking him to restore voting rights to most or all of Virginia’s 300,000 individuals who are being denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction.

Only Virginia and Kentucky permanently disenfranchise all felons upon conviction, requiring an act of the governor to restore voting rights. Of the forty eight other states, two never remove voting rights and most automatically restore rights upon completion of a prison sentence, parole or probation.

While many states instituted permanent felon disfranchisement during Jim Crow, in recent years all but Virginia and Kentucky have reformed their disfranchisement laws. Studies indicate that felons who vote are half as likely to be re-arrested as those who do not, a finding that has caused pragmatists from across political party and ideological lines to support felon disfranchisement reform.

Governor Tim Kaine has been asked numerous times during his tenure as Governor to take action to modernize Virginia’s voter restoration procedures. Advocates are hopeful the he will follow the lead of the Democratic Governor of Iowa and the Republican Governor of Florida, both of whom took executive action in the last few years to reform their state’s felon disfranchisement policies.

For more information on felon disenfranchisement in Virginia , visit www.restoreourvote.org.

WHAT: Stop Waffling Governor Kaine: Restore Rights NOW! Breakfast

WHO: Virginia Organizing Project, community members

WHEN: Friday, January 8, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: Church of the Holy Family

1279 North Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23454-2117

The Virginia Organizing Project is a statewide, multi-issue grassroots organization committed to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives.

www.virginia-organizing.org

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