The author of the Manifesto, Thomas Jefferson, borrowed
heavily from Scottish political philosopher John Locke when he penned that
people “are endowed with certain unalienable rights…” Jefferson listed three: life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. The men gathered in
Philadelphia, this nation’s founding fathers, understood the importance of the
words they were placing their signatures to.
God, not government, gives human beings certain rights. Freedom, liberty, are God’s dictate, not some
privilege that can be handed down by a ruler.
It was a daring statement of faith in the absolute rights of
humankind derived from the sovereign Lord.
And, it formed the basis of the most successful experiment in republican
democracy the world has ever known. “We
the people…in order to form a more perfect union…”
I write this fifteen days from the presidential
election. Supporters of both candidates
will tell you this is the most important election in the nation’s history. I’m not so sure. Somehow the crises affecting this country in
1860 when Lincoln was elected, and again in 1864 at his re-election, make this
era pale by comparison.
This piece isn’t about Romney or Obama. This is about voting. Virginia is one of only four states that do
not automatically reinstate voting rights to felons upon their release from
prison. This election day some 350,000
Virginians will be unable to vote solely because they carry a scarlet “F” on
their record. Voting is not a privilege. It is an unalienable right of a people to
have a say in their governance.
The current Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, has touted
his administration’s efforts to restore voting rights to felons. He should be applauded. In less than three years in office, McDonnell
has streamlined the process (it is now just filing a simple downloadable form
with his office versus the former cumbersome process of petitioning), and
restored voting rights to nearly 2,000.
That’s more than any previous modern age Virginia Governor.
The problem is McDonnell, like his predecessors and for too
many politicians, believes voting is a privilege and that government can decide
the terms and conditions of exercising that privilege. Disenfranchisement, even after over 225
years, still shows itself each election cycle.
It is an irony not lost on me that this nation, “the shining
city on the hill” as former President Ronald Reagan described her, is the only
western nation that restricts felons from voting. Even in this country, all but seventeen
states automatically restore voting rights to felons as they exit prison.
Ohio State University law professor Michelle Alexander,
author of The New Jim Crow, a critical assessment of the nation’s mass
incarceration push, argues that voting is a fundamental right of citizenship
which cannot be usurped by a felony conviction.
And the arguments used to deny felons the right to vote are
the same arguments used earlier in this nation’s history to deny women, the
poor, and ethnic and racial minorities a say in the future direction of this
land.
A few years ago, during George W. Bush’s presidency, this
nation became transfixed as we watched millions of Iraqis brave bombings and
threats of murder to cast ballots in their first democratic election after the
overthrow of the dictator Saddam Hussein.
And we watched as these citizens dipped their fingers in
purple ink and displayed them to the world saying “our vote matters”. I remember one man in particular, carried his
child in his arms. He’d been imprisoned
during the Hussein years. And he proudly
walked forward and voted. “I want my
child to know it’s not your past that matters.
It’s your future.”
“We hold these truths
to be self evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by
their creator with certain unalienable rights…”
Amazing words. It’s a
shame this nation, this state doesn’t believe them at election time.
