Convicts Look To Have Voting Rights Reinstated

Election Day is just a month away, but for more than 350,000 Virginians, voting won’t be an option because of past convictions. Virginia, a state that disenfranchises felons for life unless they apply to get the vote back, instituted a program in 2010 that guarantees a quicker decision on restoration of voting rights. There have been thousands of ex-convicts this year asking Gov. Bob McDonnell for their voting rights back; he has approved 3,800 of those requests.