Posted on 02/21/2005 10:17:53 AM PST by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 - An estimated 1.5 million former convicts are unable to vote in 14 states around the country because of state policies that make it cumbersome, confusing and difficult for them to return to voter rolls after completing their sentences, according to a new study.
Fewer than 3 percent of felons in those states have managed to register to vote after finishing their sentences, according to the study released Wednesday by the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit research group that favors more liberal sentencing policies for criminals.
In Mississippi, for instance, just 107 of more than 82,000 felons have had their voting rights restored since 1992 after completing their sentences, the study found, and in Nebraska, the tally was 343 of more than 44,000.
The question of whether and how former convicts should be allowed to vote has generated a growing nationwide debate in recent months.
The issue became contentious in Florida in the 2000 election and again last year because of accusations that felons, many of them members of minority groups, were effectively being blocked from re-registering, while some Republicans in Washington State asserted that felons were voting illegally in last year's close race for governor.
The Supreme Court declined last year to consider differing interpretations from two appellate courts on the power of states to strip felons of the right to vote. Legislators in some states have pushed to loosen restrictions on registering felons, but others have advocated expanding the types of crimes that would make an offender ineligible to vote.
At the federal level, Democrats in the Senate and House, including Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barbara Boxer of California, introduced legislation this week that addresses the issue. Among a host of other proposals for ensuring that "every vote is counted," the legislation seeks to restore voting rights "for felons who have repaid their debt to society" and would require states to end the practice of denying voting rights to felons who have completed their prison terms, parole or probation, the sponsors said.
The Sentencing Project said its study was the first to survey how frequently felons were denied voting rights in states with restrictive policies. It examined 14 states that do not automatically restore voting rights to felons after they complete their sentences. Those states are Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.
The study found that Florida, with 48,000 felons returned to voting ranks, was the only state where a significant number had their voting rights restored, but only after extended court battles there.
The report blamed long and confusing waiting periods before felons can seek voting eligibility, inadequate data in state records systems, and arbitrary standards. Some states, like Florida and Kentucky, employ "character tests" that allow state officials to ask felons about their drinking habits or to require them to submit letters of reference in applying for voting rights, the report said.
"What we found is that the procedures in many states for restoring felons' voting rights are so little used and so cumbersome that the possibility of getting restored voting rights for many of these people is just illusory," Marc Mauer, the assistant director of the Sentencing Project, said in an interview.
Several officials involved in state voting procedures did not dispute the study's findings but said they were taking steps to make it easier for felons to register when allowed by state law.
Meredith Imwalle, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of State, said a continuing overhaul of state voting databases should help to ease the problem by linking voter rolls in many states to criminal and corrections records.
In Mississippi, a state singled out by the Sentencing Project, a felon guilty of murder, rape or a number of other crimes that result in disenfranchisement must appeal to the governor or the Legislature to regain the right to vote.
"I would say that it is rare for that to happen, as the numbers in this study seem to reflect, so it may in fact be easier for a felon to regain the right to vote in other states," said David Blount, a spokesman for the Mississippi secretary of state's office.
But Mr. Blount said Mississippi, like some other states, was limited in its options because it would take an amendment to the State Constitution to change the procedure.
Cry me a flippin' river.
"The Sentencing Project said its study was the first to survey how frequently felons were denied voting rights in states with restrictive policies. It examined 14 states that do not automatically restore voting rights to felons after they complete their sentences. Those states are Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming."
Ping.
RTBA is more important - inalienable right. But I think felons should lose voting rights permanently.
"With respect to the right of self defense, do you think these folks would be advocating the restoration of a person's second amendment rights after they served their sentence?"
Yes. Their RKBA rights should be restored.
No, the LAW denies that.
From a time when people actual valued the right to vote, when to lose that right was tantamount to being imprisoned.
"But I think felons should lose voting rights permanently."
Why?
Did you read the story before you made your comment?
Right on the heels of Shrillary's call to allow felons to vote, the NY Slimes launches its supporting operation.
Why?
Convicted felons shouldn't have a voice in America's future.
That's simple: commission of a felony demonstrates that one does not have the maturity or the respect for the rules of society necessary to be making decisions about the direction of society.
I was against letting ex-felons vote until I heard from a gal who was put in prison for meth when she was 17. She served her time and has been clean for many years. I think people like that SHOULD be allowed to vote. Plus in some states it is already allowed.
Someone said on the radio last week that impeached ex-presidents should not be allowed to vote! LOL
Gee, they're a not-for-profit, too. Donations are tax-deductible. Wonder where they get their money? And how apolitical they really are...
As I learned in law school, hard cases make bad law.
While there may be some cases such as the one you cite, where the restoration of voting rights might make sense, that does not mean that all freed felons should be able to vote.
Loss of civil rights (voting, bearing arms, etc.) should be the rule for felons, restoration should be the exception in exceptional circumstances.
The real question is, "what does hillary have to gain by running roughshod over the rights of these sovereign states?"
Ok, you got me. But now that I've read it, I'll stick by my point - I'm not sorry felons might have a tough time getting the right to vote. My comment was addressed toward the felons, not toward you.
What does it say about the Dems if they think letting criminals vote will help their chances to win?
What does it say about the Dems if they think letting criminals vote will help their chances to win?
I am a former felon and a legally registered voter AND a conservative.
Those of us who get straight and stay straight, do so because we become conservative in my opinion. Anyone who is a felon and isn't cleaning up thier act isn't worried about voting. I know I wasn't. I would never allow voting for people who are incarcerated, on parole or probation.
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