VA. DENIAL OF FELON VOTING RIGHTS IS DEBATED

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia's denial of voting rights to more than 250,000
people convicted of felonies came under debate last night, with former
Richmond City Councilman Chuck Richardson calling for a better restoration
process.

"If we are serious about forgiveness, forgive these men and women,"
Richardson told a Charlottesville public forum.

Richardson, who served two years in prison after his arrest in a drug
sting, said no one in the audience could know how low it feels to lose
voting rights.

"It hurts when you know that democracy is the most precious system in the
world and you are not allowed to participate," he said.

Richardson said he must serve 19 years of probation and wait five more
years before he can petition Virginia's governor under a restoration
process that is unfair to blacks.

"There is something American about paying your dues," but yet the state
continues to extract punishment after scooping up more black men than other
citizens in its law enforcement efforts, he said.

"We have to change the law," said another speaker, Del. Brian J. Moran,
D-Alexandria. Moran is a former Arlington prosecutor who chairs the State
Crime Commission's task force on restoration of voting rights.

Bob Gibson is a staff writer for The Daily Progress