On the Ballot: The Right to Participate in Democracy

Three proposed constitutional amendments for Virginia are on the ballot in November. If passed, each will positively impact Virginians in countless ways. HJR 2 concerns the automatic restoration of voting rights for Virginians who have served their felony sentences. This amendment will give more Virginians the freedom to participate in the democratic process, protecting that right at the highest level in the state. Read on to learn about why that matters to all of us.

First, here’s our breakdown of the HJR 2 constitutional amendment.

To recap:

HJR 2 mandates that anyone convicted of a felony “upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further action required of him, shall be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote….”

• Enable Virginians who have served their felony sentences to participate in civic life;
• Protect a significant segment of Virginians, including African Americans, from illegal disenfranchisement;
• Remove obstacles to voting and promote democratic values; and
• Bring Virginia into consistency with the large majority of states that restore voting rights to felons once their sentence is served.

Currently, the restoration of voting rights for people who served their felony sentences is under the governor’s control. In 2024, it was estimated that about 260,000 people in Virginia couldn’t vote because of felony convictions. “Under Governor Youngkin, the number of people who couldn’t vote after a felony conviction grew every year…”

Governor Spanberger reversed his trend by restoring voting rights to more than 66,000 Virginians. Virginia is the only state with this process, so the amendment would take it out of the governor’s hands and change it to automatic voter restoration.

Historical context

The current system was designed to disenfranchise Black voters, who are “massively overrepresented in Virginia’s prison population, leading to their massive overrepresentation in the pool of people exiting prison without voting rights; as recently as 2016, 22 percent of Black Virginians were barred from voting for life.”

The disenfranchisement is so rampant in Virginia that a federal judge found “Virginia had been in violation of a Reconstruction-era law barring states from constitutionally disenfranchising people.”

The disenfranchisement also has an unsettling origin:

At the 1902 constitutional convention that enshrined the current system, politicians designed a lifetime ban to, in the words of a lawmaker from the time, “eliminate the darkie as a political factor” in Virginia and guarantee “the complete supremacy of the white race in the affairs of government.

Democratic Senator Mamie Locke, who sponsored the amendment, told Bolts magazine, “The right to vote is an essential currency of democracy.” HJR 2 is part of a long battle to fight felony disenfranchisement. Sheba Williams of the Richmond-based nonprofit Nolef Turns said of the amendment, “This is a moment that’s been a long time coming.”

Delegate Marcia Price also weighed in: “When I was born, my uncle was in the House of Delegates and they were fighting for this…It’s time. It’s time for us to have an automatic process. It’s time for us to not be the only state in the union that is doing this to people.”

Out: felony disenfranchisement. In: more civic participation

HJR 2 is a civil rights issue. Virginian Mike Little finished serving his time in 2023 for “writing bad checks” but hasn’t been able to vote for three years. When he checked his voter registration status, he discovered “his civil rights” hadn’t been restored. He said, “You’re really not a citizen unless you’re able to vote…It’s a huge letdown, especially when you know that you meet all the criteria.”

Sergio Hayes of Newport News is advocating for HJR 2 “so others might have the same opportunity as him.” He said, “That’s what restoration feels like. That’s what redemption looks like, and that’s what freedom sounds like.”

Richard Walker came from a family who knew the importance of voting rights, especially given the obstacles they had to overcome to gain voting rights. But after being incarcerated, Walker lost his right to vote. After then-Governor Bob McDonnell restored his voting rights, Walker founded Bridging the Gap in Virginia. He said, “I’ve assisted tens of thousands of individuals since then in getting their voting rights back.”

Even engaging in criminal justice advocacy isn’t enough to restore voting rights. In 2024, some people with a former felony conviction were in “registration limbo.” Quadaire Patterson, also formerly incarcerated, has “helped shaped laws before and after his 2024 release,” but “he has still been unable to vote.” Being a parent drove home for him the importance of voting rights. Patterson “understands how important it is to engage in democracy…If we ever want to repair this broken system, if we ever want to repair our broken communities, we have to fully allow returning citizens to participate in the civic processes.”

Take advantage of the voting rights you have and vote YES on HJR 2. Early voting starts September 18. Election Day is November 3. Hundreds of thousands of your fellow Virginians are counting on you to restore their voting rights. The more people who participate in the democratic process, the better!