Posted on 01/08/2010 10:47:38 AM PST by Free ThinkerNY
Gov. Tim Kaine, approaching his last week in office, is facing mounting pressure to restore the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of felons as one of his last acts as governor.
A coalition of religious and civil rights organizations is in talks with Kaine, a Democrat, to issue an executive order to remove the barrier for about 300,000 disenfranchised Virginians before he leaves the job on Jan. 16., as well as to initiate a policy to automatically restore felons' voting rights after they're released from prison. The commonwealth and Kentucky are the only states in the union that permanently bar a felon from voting without the direct intervention of the governor.
Kaine throughout his term has heard pleas to change Virginia's voting-rights rule, a power granted him under the state constitution. But the push has reached a crescendo as his exit approaches and a new Republican governor prepares to take over.
Advocates believe their best opportunity lies in the twilight of the Kaine administration.
"It's always a good time to approach someone during their last days in office, when they think less politically and more pragmatically," said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, one of the 10 groups seeking the executive order from Kaine.
The coalition is still in discussions with Kaine's staff, but "at this point they have neither said yes nor no," Willis said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
If you are a Methodist in Virginia, know that your Virginia Conference favors granting felons voting rights.
This is one of many political interests and lobbying activities that your tithe goes to support.
Great idea, let’s get ‘em on juries, too!
Just exactly what ‘miracle’ are you expecting from a Democrat? I hope you’re not thinking the bastard will pass on the opportunity to graft some gelt.....
If a prisoner has served his time, I don’t have a problem with them, being citizens, voting.
As to voting while they’re in prison, absolutely not. They failed to follow the laws of the people. The people should not, therefore, be subject to them participating in the making, altering, or repealing of laws.
This is one of the things about religious organizations that I find distasteful.
The Democratic Party is now in the stranglehold of one more “interest” group- “convicted felons”!
Only until obIWON's secret police fill the prisons with conservatives then the voting by prisoners will be considered illegal.
As far as I can tell, no governor in Virginia has ever used the power of reinstatement for groups, only on an individual basis, after individual review.
However, Kaine has been working hard on restoring felon rights. Interestingly though, his process rejects any felons who have recent speeding tickets. So yeah, we’ll give a murderer his voting rights, unless he was caught speeding last month.
Depends on the case. The sap who got busted with an ounce of pot or the one who was drinking, pulled off the road and slept rather than drove but still got busted for dui because the keys were in the ignition I have no problem with. This should be done on a case by case basis only after the "felon" requests a hearing to restore his voting rights. What I think everyone has a problem with is the blanket amnesty that the "progressives" always push. The guideline should be common sense.
if terrorists get a lawyer and have the right to remain silent, then why not let convicts vote? makes perfect nonsense to me.
This is complete bullsh*t. What in the hell is the wrong with these people? Too bad prisoners, you screwed up and as part of your punishment, you don’t get to help decide who runs your county/state/country or the laws that get passed in voting either. Deal with it!
I cannot believe this is even a question when even our active duty service members absentee ballots don’t get counted 100% of the time.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2423956/posts
This speaks volumes.
I’ll give the democrats their due, they will go anywhere and do anything to harvest the last vote. This is why they win elections. The coalition that shall govern us will consist of blacks, perverts, illegal aliens, felons, non-christians and in the near future the 12 to 17 demographic.
They should get their guns back too!
And we should furnish them bullets!
Gee, I wonder, for which party convicted felons will tend to vote?/s
Is there a bad segment of this earth’s population that the Democrats don’t support 100%?
We have come to a point in time when the dark side has more clearly defined itself, unified itself if you will, than ever before. And now, it’s global.
The implications of that are serious food for thought.
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