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Robert Albert voted for the first time on Friday.

That would be significant if the Richmond resident had just turned 18.

But Albert is 60 — and after decades of non-participation and disenfranchisement, he had the good fortune Friday to have a field guide on the path to participatory democracy: U.S. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va.

Kaine — back home in Richmond to celebrate his 58th birthday and campaign this weekend for Hillary Clinton — met Albert for coffee at Richmond City Hall. The senator accompanied him to the office of the city registrar, where both cast absentee ballots for Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary.

Albert had a conviction for a decade-old nonviolent felony drug possession offense. Late last year, Virginia restored his voting rights under the simplified restoration process Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration devised.

Albert’s wife, Sharon, helped him apply for reinstatement and presented the restoration certificate to him as a present on Christmas Day. The Super Tuesday primary is his first chance to use the present.

Albert borrowed Kaine’s reading glasses to complete his absentee ballot application.