Virginia Restores Civil Rights To Prisoners Upon Completing Sentences - Governor

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2021) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has restored the civil rights to more than 69,000 residents who serve or have served prison sentences, among which the right to vote, the Office of the Governor said in a release on Tuesday.

"Governor Ralph Northam today restored the civil rights of more than 69,000 Virginians using new eligibility criteria that mirror a proposed change to the Constitution of Virginia that would automatically restore voting rights to individuals upon completion of their sentence of incarceration," the release said. "With today's announcement, Governor Northam has restored civil rights to more than 111,000 people since he took office."

Virginia is one of the three US states where citizens with past felony convictions lose their civil rights, including the right to vote, serve on a jury, run for office, become public notary and carry a firearm, the release said.

The governor has the sole discretion to restore those civil rights, it added.

"Too many of our laws were written during a time of open racism and discrimination, and they still bear the traces of inequity," Northam was quoted as saying in the release. "We are a Commonwealth that believes in moving forward, not being tied down by the mistakes of our past. If we want people to return to our communities and participate in society, we must welcome them back fully - and this policy does just that."

In 2021, the General Assembly approved a constitutional amendment that automatically restores the civil rights of any individual upon completing a prison sentence, the release said. The amendment has to be passed one more time in 2022 before going for a vote in a� referendum.