Florida: Finally, "Sub Group" of Potential Voters Getting Attention In Florida there are an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 potential new voters - former felony offenders - that could participate in the upcoming presidential race, the Tamp Bay Tribune reported. NBC affiliate WPTV-5 is calling formerly incarcerated individuals the most sought after "sub group" in the upcoming election and reports that both Republicans and Democrats are vying for their support. Despite the positive news, there continues to be a backlog in rights restoration cases, according to the Parole Commission, the investigative arm of the Clemency Board. Since Governor Charlie Crist and the Clemency Board voted to ease the restoration process for nonviolent offenders last year, about 115,000 individuals have regained the right to vote. About 300,000, however, are still waiting in the wings to be notified of their eligibility. Adding to that, about 4,000 ex-offenders come up for review each month after they are released or their probation is terminated, stated Mark Schlakman, senior program director at the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University in a Tallahassee Democrat opinion editorial. "With another stroke of his pen, Gov.Charlie Crist, with support from at least two Cabinet members, also could enable many ex-offenders to regain their civil rights and register to vote. Only then will the rights-restoration process reflect the fundamental fairness that the governor has been talking about." Gov. Crist spoke highly of the restoration process during a two-day Restoration of Rights Summit sponsored by the state Department of Corrections. It was also learned that the Legislature recently cut 20 percent of the Parole Commission's budget, which resulted in the loss of nine employees who work on civil rights applications, the St. Petersburg Times reported. "Even with the changes to the rules in Florida's civil rights laws, the process for ex-offenders to regain voting rights is cumbersome, particularly in the face of budget cuts and shortage of staff at the Florida Parole Commission," writes Martha Hill in a News-Press op-ed. "Gov. Crist walked the first step, but the journey is still long." Muslima Lewis, director of the voting rights project at the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida, agreed in a New York Times article. "There is a large demand for this," she said. "And it is a lot higher this year with the election." Virginia: Governor, Advocates Play 'Beat the Clock' to Register Former Offenders "This is not a radical idea," states a Roanoke Times editorial, of automatic restoration for formerly incarcerated individuals. "In most states, a felon's right to vote is restored automatically upon completion of his or her sentence. Virginia is unusually and unreasonably restrictive." Applauding Gov. Tim Kaine's efforts to restore voting rights in time to participate in the presidential election this fall, the editorial states that Kaine is "bringing greater fairness to an unduly harsh system." There have been claims that Gov. Kaine's effort to register this new pool of voters by August 1 is coupled with Sen. Barack Obama's campaign to also register tens of thousands of new voters this summer in Virginia; Gov. Kaine said partisanship isn't a factor. Civic and social associations including the ACLU and the NAACP are teaming up to aid thousands of citizens with felony offenses to apply for rights restoration by the deadline. "A lot of felons operate under the miscomprehension that loss of their voting rights is permanent, so what we are doing, is saying, 'No, no, no, there is a way,'" Gwinnett Hagens, executive director of Democracy South was quoted as saying in the Washington Post. "It is going to be a challenge for us if we get absolutely swamped, but we will divert staff to do this." - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information -- e-mail: [email protected], web: http://www.sentencingproject.org