Felon voting rights expanded in 23 states

Felon voting rights expanded in 23 states

Network News
By Krissah Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 19, 2010; 1:37 PM

A study of felony disenfranchisement laws has found that 800,000 former felons have been returned to the voter rolls in the past decade.

A push by criminal justice advocates and civil rights groups to rewrite state laws that sometimes place lifetime voting bans on felons has resulted in 23 states amending their policies since 1997 to expand voter eligibility, according to a report out by the Sentencing Project.

Nine states repealed or reduced their lifetime voting bans, and eight states made it easier for former felons to appeal to have their voting rights restored.

Those changes were made despite "political challenges that hinder reform and can make it difficult for elected officials to extend civil rights to persons with felony convictions," said Nicole Porter, author of the report and the Sentencing Project's state advocacy coordinator.

Existing policies vary from state to state, with Kentucky and Virginia denying ex-felons the right to vote - even after they have completed parole or probation sentences. Both states require individuals to apply to the governor for restoration of civil rights.

Other states have changed those policies. Rhode Island repealed a state prohibition on parolees voting, resulting in the restoration of voting rights to more than 15,000 people. Maryland made a similar change resulting in 52,000 ex-felons regaining the right to vote.

Changes to voting laws have come from both Republicans and Democrats.

In Florida, black state legislators led the fight for a decade before populist Republican Gov. Charlie Crist pushed through the change shortly after being elected in 2006. The legislation permits many nonviolent felons to vote as long as they have no charges pending, have paid restitution and have completed probation. About 152,000 ex-felons are now on voter rolls there.

Then-Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) restored voting rights to almost 100,000 ex-felons, and New Mexico's repeal of a lifetime voting ban for felons affected 69,000 people.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... eheadlines

More Democrats!!! JMO

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Originally Posted by Newmexican

More Democrats!!! JMO

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Republican Gov. Charlie Crist pushed through the change shortly after being elected in 2006.

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As I said, more Democrats. Charlie Christ doesn't really have a political party, he just has a political lust - he doesn't count!!! JMO.

Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds
By Ed Barnes

Published July 12, 2010
AP

A study finds that at least 341 convicted felons voted illegally in the election that made former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken a U.S. senator in 2008.
The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities.

That's the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman.

The final recount vote in the race, determined six months after Election Day, showed Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes -- fewer votes than the number of felons whose illegal ballots were counted, according to Minnesota Majority's newly released study, which matched publicly available conviction lists with voting records.

Furthermore, the report charges that efforts to get state and federal authorities to act on its findings have been "stonewalled."

"We aren't trying to change the result of the last election. That legally can't be done," said Dan McGrath, Minnesota Majority's executive director. "We are just trying to make sure the integrity of the next election isn't compromised."

He said his group was largely ignored when it turned over a list of hundreds of names to prosecutors in two of the state's largest counties, Ramsey and Hennepin, where fraud seemed to be the greatest.

A spokesman for both county attorneys' offices belittled the information, saying it was "just plain wrong" and full of errors, which prompted the group to go back and start an in-depth look at the records.

"What we did this time is irrefutable," McGrath said. "We took the voting lists and matched them with conviction lists and then went back to the records and found the roster lists, where voters sign in before walking to the voting booth, and matched them by hand.

"The only way we can be wrong is if someone with the same first, middle and last names, same year of birth as the felon, and living in the same community, has voted. And that isn't very likely."

The report said that in Hennepin County, which in includes Minneapolis, 899 suspected felons had been matched on the county's voting records, and the review showed 289 voters were conclusively matched to felon records. The report says only three people in the county have been charged with voter fraud so far.

A representative of the Hennepin County attorney's office, who declined to give her name, said "there was no one in the office today to talk about the charges."

But the report got a far different review in Ramsey County, which contains St. Paul. Phil Carruthers of the Ramsey County attorney's office said his agency had taken the charges "very seriously" and found that the Minnesota Majority "had done a good job in their review."

The report says that in Ramsey, 460 names on voting records were matched with felon lists, and a further review found 52 were conclusive matches.

Carruthers attributed differences in the numbers to Minnesota Majority's lack of access to nonpublic information, such as exact birth dates and other court records. For example, he said, "public records might show a felon was given 10 years probation, but internal records the county attorney has might show that the probation period was cut to five and the felon was eligible to vote."

Carruthers said Ramsey County is still investigating all the names and has asked that more investigators be hired to complete the process. "So far we have charged 28 people with felonies, have 17 more under review and have 182 cases still open," he said. "And there is a good chance we may match or even exceed their numbers."

McGrath says the report shows that more still has to be done.

"Prosecutors have to act more swiftly in prosecuting cases from the 2008 election to deter fraud in the future," he said, "and the state has to make sure that existing system, that flags convicted felons so voting officials can challenge them at the ballot, is effective. In 90 percent of the cases we looked at, the felons weren't flagged."

"If the state had done that," he said, "things might be very different today."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07 ... udy-finds/

AND

Democrat Voter Fraud? Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota May Have Benefited from Voter Fraud,

Findings Show Convicted Felons Voted in Election
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on July 12, 2010


Al Franken may have won US Senate election in Minnesota through voter fraud

Why is it when voter fraud is discovered, just about 100% of the votes cast are for DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES?

Most of us thought that SNL leftist alumni Al Franken getting elected to the US Senate in Minnesota last year was funny… and not in a “funny-ha haâ€

List of Republican felons and their indicted brathern 1998-2008

Abramoff, Jack
Adams, Tom
Adams, Jim
Aiken, Steve
Alishtari, Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali
Allen, Bob
Allen, Claude
Allen, Bill
Alonos, Miram
Anderson, Tom
Ankeney, Randal David
Aragoncillo, Leandro
Atchison, John David R.
Bakker, Jim
Barclay, Bruce
Barnes, Martin G.
Barter, Merrill Robert
Beaird, John
Bena, Parker J.
Beres, Lou
Beverage, Sam
Biggins, Bob
Binder, Alan
Bird, Calvin
Bland, Wilton Frederick
Blessing, Louis
Bloom, Philip H.
Blundell, Brian
Bobrick, Bill
Boggio, Scott
Botes, Stephan
Boylan, Joe
Brady, Kevin
Brock, Darrell
Broderick, Thomas
Brooks, Howard L.
Brown, Shawn
Bryan, John
Bundy, Ted
Burcham, Tom
Burghoff, Matthew
Burt, John Allen
Butler, John
Cagle, Charles "Chig"
Cappelli, Angelo
Carona, Deborah
Carona, Michael S.
Carpenter, Jared
Carroll, Cherie
Casamento, Ricahard
Casseday, Randall
Childers, W.D.
Childs, Keola
Cianci, Vincent
Clark, Donald Ross
Coan, Kevin
Collins, John J.
Colyandro, John
Condos, James
Constantine, Lee
Cooper, Nathan
Corrigan, Larry
Cortelyou, Scott Eller
Coughlin ,Paul
Coutretsis, Andrea
Cowdery, John
Craig, Larry
Cramer, Carey Lee
Crawford, Lester
Cunningham, Randy “Duke”
Curtin, John R.
Dasen Sr., Richard A.
Davis, Ronnie
Davison, Pat
DeLay, Tom
Delgaudio, Richard A.
DeShon, Ronnie Gene
Dibble, Peter
Dickens, Joshua
Disponett, Dave
Doolittle, John
Doyle, Dan
Doyle, Victoria
Doyle, Brian J.
Druce, Thomas
Druen, Dan
Elizondo, Nicholas
Ellef ,Peter
Elliott, Matthew Joseph
Ellis, James
Fabian, Alan
Fawell, Scott
Federici, Italia
Fields, Vincent
Fleischman, Donald
Fletcher, Earnie
Floren, Livvy
Flory, Michael
Floyd, Larry Dale
Foggo, Kyle “Dusty”
Fossella, Vito J.
Fox., Galen
Franklin, Larry
Gallagher, Dennis
Gardner, Richard
Garofalo, Dave
Gillin, William
Giordano, Philip
Glavin, Matthew
Gosek, John
Goyette, Richard R.
Graves, David
Grethen, Mark A.
Griles, J. Steven
Groe, Trish
Habay, Jeffrey
Hamilton Jr., John J.
Hansen, Shaun
Harbin, Ben
Harding, Russell
Harris, Mark
Hazlette, Tim
Healy, Chris
Heaton, William
Heldreth, Howard Scott
Hicks, Brian
Hiller, Bradley R.
Hintz, Mike
Hoffman, Debra V.
Holland, Robert
Holt, Delecia
Hooks Sr., Michael
Hopfengardner, Bruce D.
Horsley, Neal
Houchen, Pamela J.
Hughes, J. Marshall
Hurley, Steven M.
Iadanza, Richard
Matricarid, Edmund III
Isenhour, James K.
Jacoby, Mark
James, Rayfield
Janklow, Bill
Jensen, Scott
Jones, Jody
Juliano, Richard
Kaelin, Jeffrey
Kauffman, Allen D.
Kelty, Matt
Kerik, Bernie
Kidan, Adam
Kimmerling, Earl "Butch"
King, Lawrence E. "Larry" Jr.
Klaudt, Ted
Kline, Ronald C.
Kohring, Vic
Kontogiannis, Thomas
Kott, Pete
Knapp, Max
Lambert, James R.
Law, David
Lay ,Michael Aaron
Leonard, Richard
Leung, Katrina
Libby, I. Lewis "Scooter"
Limbaugh, Rush
Linnen, Stephen
Loeper Jr., F. Joseph
Looper, Byran "Low Tax"
Loren-Maltese, Betty
Lukens, Donald "Buz"
Luongo, Gerald J.
Malloy, Patrick G.
Malone, Lance
Manuel, Thomas G.
Martin, Hayes
Mathes Jr., James R.
Matricardi, Edmund III
Matthews, Jon
Maysky, Eugene
McCurnin, Joseph
McGee, Charles
McGuire, Patrick Lee
Meadows, Cory
Merla, John
Michael, John
Mixon, Michael
Monteleone Jr., Joseph
Morency, Nicholas
Murgatroyd, Dick
Murphy Jr., Glenn
Muschany, Scott
Nash, James J.
Neal, Rebecca
Newton, Chris
Ney, Bob
Nguyen, Tan
Nielsen, Jeffrey
Nighbert, Bill
Nixon Jr., Kenneth E.
Noe, Bernadette
Noe, Thomas
Noonan, Thomas J.
Novak, Lawrence
Nugent, Johnny
O’Grady, Raymond
Oleen, Lana
Ortloff, George Chris
Owens, Leonard Ray
Palughi, Anthony J.
Parker, Brent
Patti, Jeffrey
Pazuhanich, Mark
Privette, Coy
Prokos, Alexandra
Pugh, Edward
Rader, Dennis L.
Randall, Tom
Randall, Jeffrey Kyle
Rathmann, Rolf
Ravenel, Thomas
Raymond, Allen
Regola, Robert
Renzi, Rick
Rice, Steve
Ring, Kevin
Ringo, Robert R.
RoBold, Warren
Rosen, Steve
Rowland, John
Rudy, Tony
Russell, Beverly
Ryan, George
Safavian, David Hossein
Scanlon, Michael
Scannapieco, Matthew V.
Schepp, Brent
Schofield, Robert T.
Schrenko, Linda
Scott, Randy
Seidensticker, Mark
Shaner, Matt
Shortridge, Tom
Siljander, Mark Deli
Skandalakis, Mitch
Skiles, Paul
Slocum, William
Smeltzer Jr., Fred C.
Smith, Rick
Stanley, Roger “The Hog
Stevens, Ted
Stillwell, Roger
Stroupe Jr, Wade
Stumbo, Bobby
Sumrow, Ray
Swartz, David
Symington, Fife
Taff, Adam
Taft, Bob
Tanonaka, Dalton
Tate, Mark
Tebano, Armando
Teele, Arthur
Temple, Merle
Thompson, Joe
Thompson, Donald
Thomson, Gary Russell
Tobin, James
Treffinger, James
Trout, Harold Anthony "Tony"
Tristano, Michael
Turbyfill, Basil
Van Vleet, Rick D.
Vanderwall, Robin
Velella, Guy J.
Vellanoweth, Robert
Volz, Neil
Wade, Mitchell
Walker, Derek
Walters, Nick
Warner, Larry
Weissmann, Keith
Weldon ,Terance
Westberg, Craig
Westlake, John E. "Jack"
Westmoreland, Keith
Weyhrauch, Bruce
White, C. Stephen
Wilkes ,Brent
Williams, Robin
Wilson, Bob
Zachares, Mark
Zimmerman, Al

http://www.republicanoffenders.com/

Personally, I'd rather see every felon of US citizenship vote than half of our politicians. I support law and order, but I really don't support taking the right of any US citizen to vote away from them because they were convicted of a crime, no matter who they are or what they've done. I don't know where this originated, why we've done that or on what constitutional basis someone had for the notion.

These are state laws and states have the authority to pass their own laws.

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Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

These are state laws and states have the authority to pass their own laws.

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It's great to see 23 of them expand voting rights for felons, rights that shouldn't have been taken away from these citizens to begin with. Hopefully any of the other 27 states that have denied felons the right to vote will follow suit.

It would be nice if someone knew where this notion of not letting felons vote originated, why the states took their voting rights away to begin with and on what constitutional basis they did so.

I doubt that you will find much sympathy for murderers, rapist, child molesters, drug dealers, Bernie Madoffs, etc. who loose their right to vote.

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Voting is a matter of state law. Even federal elections are governed by the laws in force in each of the individual states. Each state determines under what circumstances a convicted felon can or cannot vote. These laws vary rather significantly from one state to another.

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Which States Allow Convicted Felons to Vote?

@ http://www.alipac.us/f12/convicted-f...voting-206297/