Progressive Democrat Issue 58: VIRGINIA FOCUS

From the Virginia Grassroots Coalition:

IT’S TIME TO RESTORE VOTER RIGHTS…CALL GOVERNOR MARK WARNER TODAY. There are 243,000 Virginia citizens who are unfairly denied the right to vote.

The overwhelming majority of Americans – more than 80%! – believe that people who have completed their sentences should be allowed to vote. Virginia is one of only four states – all former slave states – that still permanently disenfranchise individuals with felony convictions. Virginia disenfranchises 1 in every 6 African Americans in the Commonwealth.

It doesn’t have to be that way! The time for change is now.

Call Governor Warner today at 804-786-2211 or email him via his website.

Urge him to issue an executive order to restore voting rights to Americans in Virginia who have completed the conditions of their criminal sentences. Governor Warner’s term ends January 14, 2006. Before he leaves office, let’s make a bold, historic move for democracy. Let’s trounce a history of felony disenfranchisement laws that were intended to exclude African Americans, and still do.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Governor Mark R. Warner, Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor, 1111 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219
Phone: (804) 786-2211, Fax: (804) 371-6351