(Photo courtesy of Phuong Tran/ACLU of Virginia)
Tati Abu King, who was formerly incarcerated for a felony, has been waiting years to be able to vote again. A court ruling this year that found Virginia’s rights restoration process had violated a Civil War-era law means that this fall, he’ll be able to cast a ballot in congressional elections and weigh in on an amendment to cement voting protections for other ex-offenders.
“I want to set a precedent for my kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews. I can’t tell them to go out and vote if I can’t do it myself,” King said in a Q & A posted to Virginia’s American Civil Liberties Union website, the organization that represented him and others in the class action lawsuit challenging Virginia’s restoration of rights process. “I want to set an example. The world is in uproar and chaos right now. It’s about trying to make things right.”
A federal court ruled earlier this year that Virginia’s current disenfranchisement of anyone with felony convictions violates laws that required former Confederate states to guarantee voting rights for newly-emancipated Black residents.
The series of laws, called the Readmission Acts, had barred states from constitutionally disenfranchising people other than those convicted of crimes considered common law at the time. Under current law, however, all ex-felons lost voting rights unless they’ve petitioned a governor successfully.
The federal judge had originally given state officials a May 1 deadline to make sure that many of today’s crimes don’t strip voting rights. A new joint filing last week between King’s lawyers and the Office of Attorney General Jay Jones, grants an extension to June 1.
“We are committed to working with the Commonwealth to implement this historic expansion of voting rights and ensure newly eligible voters know their rights have been restored,” said ACLU attorney Vishal Agraharkar. “It’s past time for us to finally and formally right this wrong.”
Groundwork for a constitutional amendment
The legal back and forth represents a multi-year effort to ensure people who are done serving time can participate in the democratic process again.
King’s lawsuit challenged Virginia’s historic disenfranchisement by targeting former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who’d adjusted a once-automatic process to restore voting rights when someone finishes their sentence.
Two previous governors had streamlined that process before Youngkin switched the process to petition-based. With little clarity on what would garner a successful petition, restoration numbers dropped under his tenure.
Concurrently, state lawmakers advanced an effort to enshrine automatic restorations into the state’s constitution. Having cleared the legislature two years in a row, it will appear on statewide ballots this November — meaning King and others will be able to vote to change the constitution that had once disenfranchised them.
“Voting to me means that my voice is being heard,” King said. “It means that I am fulfilling my obligation as a citizen of this state and of this country.”
When Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the measure to advance the amendment to a ballot referendum earlier this year, she said: “When Virginians have paid their debt to society, they deserve to regain their right to vote.”
As state agencies work to formally define the list of crimes that may qualify or disqualify past offenders, June 1 will become the first day of eligibility for some to register to vote without first needing a governor’s approval. Details on how to register to vote are available on the State Department of Elections website.
