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NORFOLK — As several controversial voter ID laws make their way through the General Assembly, groups will host a film screening and forum on Saturday at the Naro Theater in Norfolk to address voting rights in Virginia.
The House of Delegates and Senate have already passed voter ID bills HB 9 and SB 1 with HB 569 still making it’s way through committee. These bills will disproportionately affect some of our most vulnerable citizens: seniors, minorities, young adults, and low-income Virginians and could potentially take away the vote of 500,000 Virginians.
In addition to focusing on current voter suppression efforts by the General Assembly, the forum will focus on the long-time disenfranchisement of former felons in Virginia. Only Virginia and Kentucky permanently disenfranchise all felons upon conviction, requiring an act of the Governor to restore voting rights.Virginia’s disenfranchisement policy is a vestige from the Jim Crow era and was a product of the 1901 Constitutional Convention, deliberately designed to marginalize minority voters. Felony disenfranchisement currently impacts more than 300,000 Virginians.
Prior to the forum, the groups will screen Democracy’s Ghosts–a short film about efforts nationwide to gain voting rights back for those who have been disenfranchised.
Who: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority: Chesapeake-Virginia Beach Alumnae Chapter, Virginia Organizing, The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Missing Voter Project
Panelists:
James Bailey (Missing Voter Project)
Debra Grant (Virginia Organizing / Lake Edwards Community Association)
Thomas Fitzpatrick (ACLU of Virginia)
Marla Newby (CVB-Delta Sigma Theta)
What: Democracy’s Ghosts Film Screening and Forum on Voter Suppression
When: Saturday, February 11, 11:00am
Where: Naro Theater, 1507 Colley Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23517
Virginia Organizing is a statewide grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
