Felony Re-enfranchisement
Today, almost 300,000 Virginians cannot vote due to felony convictions. Fifty percent of these people are African American; one in four African-American men in Virginia cannot vote due to convictions. In fact, Virginia remains one of only two states that continues to enforce a Reconstruction-era law that permanently robs all persons convicted of any felony of their voting rights. The individuals can apply for the restoration of the right to vote through a clemency process, but the process allows the governor to grant restoration of this fundamental right on a case-by-case basis. Over the past three years, Advancement Project has spearheaded an advocacy campaign to re-enfranchise people with felony convictions and to change the law to provide for automatic restoration.
Advancement Project’s Virginia Clemency Campaign Initiative has four key objectives:
- To successfully assist thousands of formerly incarcerated individuals in Virginia regain their voting rights.
- To create an upsurge in applications for clemency, calling attention to the injustice of the state's disenfranchisement law.
- To mobilize public and political support for enactment of new laws providing for automatic restoration of voting rights.
- To create an effective organizing model that can be used by other re-enfranchisement campaigns across the country.
Advancement Project worked to overwhelm then-Governor Mark Warner’s staff with applications for voting rights from people with felony convictions, partnering with groups in four regions of the state, including STEP-UP, Inc. of Norfolk, Va., a nonprofit group that has helped thousands of people with felony convictions successfully re-enter society by helping them secure employment, diplomas, and housing.
To achieve the campaign objectives of reaching potential applicants and educating the public, Advancement Project developed a sophisticated communications strategy. A central component of the aggressive media and advertising campaign was publicizing a toll-free number for assistance with the restoration process. The number was advertised in newspapers and on radio, on billboards, and in ads on buses and bus shelters in targeted communities. Advancement Project received more than 2,900 calls for assistance; many of these individuals received direct assistance from our community partners or attended workshops we held throughout Virginia.
Advancement Project simultaneously implemented a legal advocacy strategy to convince the governor to use executive power to institute automatic restoration. Although Governor Warner did not issue the automatic restoration executive order, he did restore voting rights to 3,500 former felons during his four years in office—which was a far higher number than the governors that preceded him.
In 2008, Advancement Project heightened its efforts in Virginia in light of increased interest in the presidential election. Through public service announcements, opinion editorials, and radio appearances, Advancement Project alerted Virginians about deadlines for applying for restoration in time to vote in the general election. Advancement Project continues to work with local organizations to eliminate this discriminatory barrier to voting.
