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Democrats lead 3 key state races: AG, Treasurer and Auditor General

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Wyoming Valley West comes up short in first round of PIAA Field Hockey Tournament

<p>When Sylvester Hall was convicted of buying $25 worth of cigarettes with another man&#8217;s bank check in 1980, he lost a year of his life to jail, his livelihood and his home. And the Virginia man lost another thing of value: the right to vote.</p><p>On Tuesday, Hall, 79, cast a ballot in Falls Church, Va., the first time since voting for Jimmy Carter in 1976.</p><p>Hall, who maintains his innocence and unsuccessfully appealed his conviction, is among about 67,000 felons whose voting rights have been restored in the past four months by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). The governor&#8217;s spokesman said 20,000 of those with newly restored rights had registered to vote.</p><p>McAuliffe said the move was to allow those who already had served time for their crimes to again participate in society as full citizens. He underscored that barring all felons from voting, a prohibition far broader than most states, particularly impacted black residents in the Commonwealth: nearly one in four could not vote because of a felony conviction.</p><p>Republicans challenged the move, calling it an overreach and sued to stop it. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in their favor, saying the governor did not have the authority to issue a blanket order to restore voting rights to 200,000 felons at once. Instead, McAuliffe did it individually, giving some 60,000 the right to vote.</p><p>Republicans have criticized the action, calling it a naked attempt to help Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton win the state. Republican nominee Donald Trump joined the chorus of opposition at a rally in Leesburg, Va., on Monday, saying the governor had restored the rights of felons &#8220;illegally.&#8221;</p><p>Hall, who is African-American, tried to vote in 2008. He lined up at Bailey Community Center before sunrise that November morning eight years ago to vote for Barack Obama. He had not attempted to vote since he had been released from jail, but seeing an African-American so close to the White House inspired him. But a poll worker turned him away, saying he no longer was on the rolls. His felony conviction, then three decades old, would keep him from voting.</p><p>&#8220;I was embarrassed,&#8221; Hall said. &#8220;People were asking &#8216;What&#8217;s wrong?&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>For Hall, losing his right to vote was another indignity heaped upon a pile of injustices, another price to pay for a crime he maintains he never committed. Hall said he has never recovered from the damage the conviction wrought on his life. When he was put away, he and his wife were eyeing a high-rise apartment, paid for by his union wages for maintaining trucks at a local dairy.</p><p>But when he was released, they were forced to move into the unheated basement of the family home. Hall, who has remodeled the basement, still lives there more than three decades later.</p><p>As he left the community center&#8217;s auditorium on Tuesday, he struggled to put into words what he felt. It was as if a weight had been lifted, he said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s hard to describe,&#8221; Hall said. &#8220;It&#8217;s been beautiful.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Moriah Balingit</p><p>The Washington Post</p></bylineMeta></div>

With rights restored, 79-year-old felon votes again after 40 years