Kaine urges restoration of voting rights

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who leaves office in January, yesterday encouraged people with nonviolent felony convictions who have paid their debt to society to apply to have their voting rights restored.

Speaking on his monthly call-in radio show on WTOP in Washington, Kaine noted that he and his predecessor as governor, Mark R. Warner, have restored the rights of more Virginians than all of the previous governors of the commonwealth combined.

Warner restored the rights of 3,486 Virginians; Kaine, as of last Friday, had granted restoration to 4,081 Virginians, the most by any Virginia governor. Since 1934, nearly 14,000 Virginians have had their rights restored.

Virginia and Kentucky are the only states that require people who have lost their rights through felony convictions to apply for reinstatement. In addition to voting rights, felons in Virginia also may not serve on juries or hold public office.

"I think folks who serve their time should have their rights restored, especially those who have been convicted of nonviolent felonies," Kaine said.

WTOP political reporter Mark Plotkin asked why Kaine would not simply sign an executive order before he leaves office to restore rights to such individuals. Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell succeeds Kaine, a Democrat, on Jan. 16.

"Our analysis of Virginia law is that I can't just do a blanket restoration — I have to restore people by name," the governor explained.

Kaine said the state has a simple one-page form to help expedite the process, which he says is "as near an automatic process as can be."
"You fill it out, you ask for your rights back," he said. "You demonstrate that you've served your time and that you've been out and you haven't committed any problems for a couple of years.
"If your felony was a nonviolent felony, we restored every right of everybody who applies," Kaine said. "If it's a violent felony, we dig into it a little more."
"I'm glad you asked me this question, because there are folks out there who may still want to apply," Kaine added. "It may be tough . . . ," he said before being interrupted.

During his successful campaign for governor, McDonnell said he was in favor of restoration of rights to "certain nonviolent offenders who have met very specific requirements, have maintained a clean record, and are contributing members of society."

But the governor-elect added another hurdle to potential applicants by saying they must demonstrate "proof of a consistent job history and a record of community service, in addition to the current requirements already in place."

Kaine was joined on the show by Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. Both men fielded questions on a wide range of issues, including transportation, the budget, same-sex marriage and the Washington Redskins.

Kaine said he was "very, very, disappointed" by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington's position that it could cut or suspend providing social services to the needy if the D.C. City Council approved same-sex marriage.

The church maintains that marriage must be between a man and a woman. Catholic Charities has said it would not be in compliance with city contracts to provide the services if it did not receive a religious exemption that would enable it to deny placement of adopted or foster children to gay couples or refuse employee benefits to gay couples.

"I'm a Catholic, and I think it's wrong," Kaine said of a possible church pullout. "I don't think you take your ball and go home."

"It would be very, very sad for all concerned," said O'Malley, who is also a Catholic. "I don't understand how they can possibly do this."

Also during the show, Kaine said he thought it would be "very difficult" for McDonnell to win approval from Virginia's Democrat-controlled state Senate for a statewide transportation plan if it involves draining money for education from the state's general fund budget.

The governor also reiterated his stance that "everything is on the table" when asked whether taxes would figure into his budget writing for the fiscal 2011-12 spending plan. "It will be a balance of strategies," he said.

Jim Nolan is a staff writer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.