"Voting-rights restoration helps us all"
Published: August 20, 2008
PETERSBURG As she read the contents of the certified mail, Carla Whitehead shed tears of joy.
The envelope included an order from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine restoring Whitehead's right to vote, hold office and serve on a jury or as a notary public.
An accompanying letter said Kaine, after considering her case and her life since her conviction and release, "has determined that you have the potential and desire to be a valuable asset to our commonwealth and for those reasons he had decided to grant your petition."
As of Friday, Whitehead was among 158 nonviolent former inmates since mid-April who have had their voting rights restored in Virginia, according to Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Bernard Henderson.
Whitehead, a Chester resident, said her 1995 welfare-fraud conviction marked the beginning of a transformation that culminated with that Aug. 11 letter.
"Basically, I view it as part of the restoration of my life . . . the opportunity for me to make a positive impact so others can see it from me," said Whitehead, a family-development specialist for a nonprofit group in Petersburg.
"If God could do it for me, he could do it for other folks," she said. "Call it a physical testimony, just for me to be able to go out and vote."
According to Henderson, groups working toward the restoration of voting rights had requested a target date that would allow nonviolent former prisoners to be able to vote in November if their application was approved. The state agreed to do its best to process applications received by Aug. 1. No promises were made regarding the processing of applications from those convicted of violent offenses because the review process is more complicated.
Henderson -- who stressed that no shortcuts are being taken in the review process -- said yesterday that the state received 918 applications by Aug. 1. Of those, 733 were found to be qualified for restoration. Others were disqualified because of subsequent convictions or incomplete applications. The target for processing the applications is Sept. 15.
Whitehead attended a four-hour re-entry seminar at Goodwill of Central Virginia in Petersburg, where she was inspired by facilitator Hasan Zarif, a former prisoner who a year ago had his voting rights restored.
She said her previous efforts to regain her voting rights had ended in frustration, deterred by lack of knowledge of the process and her own shame. Zarif's session taught her that she needed to forgive herself before moving on.
"It let you know there are possibilities and you can get your life back," she said. "It did reaffirm that it was still possible for me."
Zarif passed out registration forms and sent applicants to Third Street Bethel A.M.E. Church in Richmond, one of numerous partners in the voter-restoration effort in Virginia, among the most restrictive states in the nation. There, volunteers assisted applicants with forms and delivered the applications to the governor.
Zarif said the restoration of voting rights signals to employers that a former offender is a productive citizen. He stresses in his seminars that participants should be drugand alcohol-free and engaged in spiritual and civic pursuits.
"It's not just about going in and getting your rights restored," Zarif said. "We're giving them a recipe for what they need to be doing so when the governor restores their rights, he's restoring the rights of a productive citizen."
Exactly
Restoration removes Whitehead and others from the sidelines and places them back in society as empowered, productive citizens. It's not enough that they desire to be valuable assets to our community. We all should desire it.