Gov Mcauliffe restores Voting Rights to more than 5,100 ex-offenders.. [View all]

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McAuliffe restores rights of more than 5,100 ex-offenders @richmonddotcom
4:31 PM - 29 Dec 2014 12 Retweets 3 favorites

http://theobamadiary.com/2014/12/29/2014-50-most-memorable-moments/


Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe watched in an emotional moment for James W. Ray

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James W. Ray sat silently in the front row of the church meeting room, rubbing his eyes.

Ray wasn’t mourning a loss. Rather, the Vietnam veteran and felon wept over something that had just been returned to him — the right to vote.

“Those are tears of joy,” observed Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who came to First Baptist Church in South Richmond on Thursday to formally restore the rights of Ray and two others.

The governor was commemorating a year in which the secretary of the commonwealth’s office restored the rights of 5,113 Virginians to vote, serve on a jury, hold public office and become notaries.

snip//

“This is a great day in my life,” said Ray, convicted in 2005 of a nonviolent felony. He received an official proclamation from the governor along with LaQuita Fairley and Verneda Muhammad.

“This is what’s great about being governor,” said McAuliffe, who became a little emotional himself at seeing Ray’s reaction.

“I’ve said many times I think it’s important that everybody in life gets a second chance,” the governor told the audience of parishioners, politicians and rights restoration advocates. They cheered and applauded frequently throughout the event as officials and former offenders alike told of trying to restore civil rights — and the impact restoration will have on their lives.

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http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/article_cbad7917-dac0-5ae1-a545-b5fafc29081b.html#.VKINMLIDXQM.twitter

Second Chances, baby! Thank you Governor McAuliffe~ The sacred right to VOTE