In some states, people who have served time can never vote again.
A Maryland bill
allowing most felons to vote as soon as they are released from prison headed from the state legislature to Gov. Larry Hogan's desk Friday. He has yet to decide whether he will sign it. Currently, those released from prison must complete parole or probation before they are permitted to vote.
And that's the way it should be, according to opponents in the legislature, most of them Republicans:
“This session appears to be the session of the criminal offender," said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, a Calvert County Republican, "I believe in redemption, but you have to pay the price first. These people on probation and parole have not yet paid that price."
But Del. Frank Turner, a Howard County Democrat, defended the proposal as crucial to helping offenders redintegrate, which is the point of parole and probation. “We want you to act like a member of society," he said.
Judith Brown Dianis, director of the
Advancement Project, a civil rights advocacy organization, said, “There are endless benefits to restoring voting rights for people released from incarceration, including the fostering of full community integration and the fulfillment of our core democratic principles.”
If Hogan signs the bill, it could mean about 40,000 disenfranchised ex-prisoners would be allowed to vote immediately. That could make a difference for the Republican Party in Maryland since The Sentencing Project estimates about 65 percent of people who can't vote because of past felonies are African Americans, most of whose votes go to the Democrats.
The loosening of Maryland's law is part of a nationwide effort to stop punishing people once they've served their terms in prison.
More on reenfranchisement can be found below the fold.
The Sentencing Project estimates that 5.85 million Americans are disenfranchised because of past felonies. You can see state-by-state specifics here. Most states have some form of automatic restoration after felons serve their sentence or that plus parole and probation time. But, depending on circumstances, 11 states, mostly in the West and South, can disenfranchise felons forever if they choose to do so.
In Florida, felons must appeal for a clemency ruling from the governor to get back their voting rights. Governors there can ignore those pleas and often do. It's estimated that nearly 10 percent of voting-age citizens in Florida—nearly 25 percent of African Americans—cannot vote in Florida because of these restrictions. A grassroots petition drive is underway to get reenfranchisement of ex-prisoners on the ballot in 2016. In Arizona, felons who have been twice convicted are disenfranchised for good. In Nevada, only those convicted of non-violent offenses are given their voting rights back.
The goal of temporary incarceration is—or ought to be—rehabilitation. But how can a person be fully rehabilitated if he or she cannot exercise one of the basic rights of an American citizen?