Organizers of the May 31 rally said they hope to encourage Gov. Bob McDonnell to sign an executive order reinstating voting rights for felons. Virginians convicted of a felony lose the ability to vote, although the governor can restore it on an individual basis.

“I can’t tell you the number of people after an election, with all this fervor, that didn’t feel a part,” said Jesse Frierson, the Richmond executive director of a group called Virginia Alliance against Mass Incarceration. “They will have more pride in themselves.”

Those convicted of a non-violent felony must wait at least two years before reapplying for voting rights. For violent offenders, the wait is five years.

According to Frierson, a majority of Virginians support giving former convicts the right to vote.

“The right to vote is something that is dear,” Frierson said.

Frierson said the alliance is asking for an executive order to be signed, as opposed to an amendment to the constitution. He said the amendment would take too long in that it would have to pass both the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates.

“The issue probably more than anything else is inertia,” said Antoine Edwards III, director of alumni at the Virginia University of Lynchburg.