Virginia is the only state that permanently bans all ex-felons from voting unless they receive an executive pardon. Richard Walker uses his nonprofit – and cooking skills – to help other former felons win back their voting rights.
Richard Walker toiled over a sizzling deep fryer, dropping breaded fish into the hot oil on a late summer afternoon. People lined up at a park shelter in Richmond’s Gilpin Court public housing complex, waiting for a fish dinner — and also getting an election message from Walker.
Walker’s mission was to get people ready to vote in the upcoming election — by helping people with prior felony convictions check their voting status or apply to have their voting rights restored.
“Fish brings out the best in people,” he said. “It at least brings people out.”
Virginia is the only state that permanently suspends a person’s voting rights and other civil liberties after a felony conviction, regardless of the crime or completion of their sentence. Other states with strict restrictions restore rights depending on the type of felony conviction.
Under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, people with a felony conviction must apply to the governor’s office, which decides on a case-by-case basis to restore voting rights.