Thread: We Talked to Five Ex-Felons Whose Voting Rights Have Been Restored

Apr. 28, 2016 2:22pm Michael Mason

We Talked to Five Ex-Felons Whose Voting Rights Have Been Restored — They All Plan to Vote for the Same Person

More than 200,000 convicted felons will be able to cast ballots in the swing state of Virginia in November under a sweeping executive order from Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Standing on the steps of the Virginia capitol, the Democratic executive said restoring the rights of felons to vote will help undo the state’s long history of preventing Americans from fully participating in our democracy.

Billy, an ex-felon, speaks to TheBlaze about having his voting rights restored. (Michael Mason/TheBlaze)

Republicans called the order a bald-faced political move by McAuliffe — a close ally of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton — to help his party hold onto the White House.

“Terry McAuliffe wants to ensure that convicted pedophiles, rapists and domestic abusers can vote for Hillary Clinton,” said Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan T. McDougle.

We sat down with five ex-felons in Richmond to see how they are going to use their newly restored voting rights. The results were surprising, considering the narrative pushed by the media.

These men were the first five to respond to a question put on Facebook about the issue. They were not selected in any order, by race, or to make any particular political point.

I
Image via: Facebook/Michael Mason


Watch:

We Talked to Five Ex-Felons Whose Voting Rights Have Been Restored — They All Plan to Vote for the Same Person

Rand Paul wants to let ex-cons vote, reduce drug offenses

New push to reform sentencing laws unites liberal, Tea Party senators

No citizen should be denied his/her right to vote for any reason. Arresting people to prevent them from voting was a tactic used by the British king which we rejected. If you want to make personal ownership of firearms illegal just have Congress pass the law. It will never be repealed because those who do own firearms will not be allowed to vote.

Originally Posted by artclam

No citizen should be denied his/her right to vote for any reason. Arresting people to prevent them from voting was a tactic used by the British king which we rejected. If you want to make personal ownership of firearms illegal just have Congress pass the law. It will never be repealed because those who do own firearms will not be allowed to vote.

I respectfully disagree. I support restoring voting rights to felons outside a set period of time (5 years for example), assuming they walk the straight and narrow. However, I could never support giving those rights to convicted felons currently serving a prison sentence. Those serving time for breaking a law that classifies as a felony should not have a hand in voting for those that make the law!

FELON VOTING RIGHTS

4/25/2016




Background and History

The idea of taking away a criminal's right to vote has been around since ancient Greece and Rome. A condition called "civil death" in Europe involved the forfeiture of property, the loss of the right to appear in court, and a prohibition on entering into contracts, as well as the loss of voting rights. Civil death was brought to America by English colonists, but most aspects of it were eventually abolished, leaving only felon disenfranchisement intact in some parts of modern America.

Categories of Disenfranchisement

State approaches to felon disenfranchisement vary tremendously. In Maine and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote, even while they are incarcerated. In Florida, Iowa and Virginia, felons and ex-felons permanently lose their right to vote.

Virginia and Florida have supplementary programs which facilitate gubernatorial pardons.

The remaining states each have their own approaches to the issue.

• In 38 states and the District of Columbia, most ex-felons automatically gain the right to vote upon the completion of their sentence.
• In some states, ex-felons must wait for a certain period of time after the completion of their sentence before rights can be restored.
• In some states, an ex-felon must apply to have voting rights restored.

Barriers to the Restoration of Rights

Even in states where ex-offenders automatically regain the right to vote upon completion of their sentence, the process of re-registering to vote often is difficult. One reason is the complexity of the laws and processes surrounding disenfranchisement. In some cases, it is difficult to determine whose rights can be restored. This can vary in some states according to the date of the crime, the conviction, or the release from prison, or the nature of the crime. The complex restoration process also can be daunting. It often involves lengthy paperwork, burdensome documentation, and the involvement and coordination of several state agencies.

A second barrier to restoration of voting rights for ex-offenders is the often inconsistent communication among agencies. The methods of communicating the loss and restoration of voting rights among courts, corrections and elections officials are not always reliable, timely or consistent. This inconsistency can result in uneven application of the law, even when the laws are clear. Another barrier is lack of information. Ex-offenders sometimes are not aware that they regain their voting rights automatically upon completion of their sentence.

They go through life believing they cannot vote when, in fact, they can. In other cases, they are not informed of the process for regaining their rights or offered assistance in doing so. As long as they remain ignorant of the necessary steps, ex-offenders cannot begin the process of regaining voting rights.

A final obstacle is under-funding of parole boards in some states where offenders must apply to have their rights restored. A massive backlog of applications can exist because the agencies do not have adequate staff or resources to process them in a timely manner.

Recent State Action

Most--though not all--recent state legislation seeks to expand felon voting rights and ease the process of restoration. Between 1996 and 2008, 28 states passed new laws on felon voting rights.

• Seven repealed lifetime disenfranchisement laws, at least for some ex-offenders.
• Two gave probationers the right to vote.
• Seven improved data-sharing procedures among state agencies.
• Nine passed requirements that ex-offenders be given information and/or assistance in regaining their voting rights at the time they complete their sentence.
• Twelve simplified the process for regaining voting rights, for instance, by eliminating a waiting period or streamlining the paperwork process.

Since 2008:
In 2016, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced an executive order automatically restoring voting rights to convicted felons who have completed their prison sentence and their term of supervised release (parole or probation) as of April 22.

In 2016, the Maryland Legislature voted to override Governor Larry Hogan's veto of two bills (HB 980 and SB 340) that will restore voting rights to individuals after completion of term of incarceration, effective March 10.

In 2015, outgoing Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear signed an executive order to automatically restore the right to vote (and to hold public office) to certain offenders, excluding those who were convicted of violent crimes, sex crimes, bribery, or treason. However the order was reversed by incoming Governor Matt Bevin as one of his first acts in office. Bevin’s order does not retroactively affect felons who, between Nov. 24 and Dec. 22, 2015, received a certificate from the state Department of Corrections confirming their restoration of rights.

In 2015, Wyoming enacted HB 15 requiring the department of corrections to issue a certification of restoration of voting rights to certain non-violent felons who are being released from the state’s prisons.

In 2013, Delaware eliminated the five-year waiting period before voting rights are restored.

In Virginia, then-Governor McDonnell signed an executive order creating new rights restoration processes for persons with prior felony convictions.

In 2012, South Carolina mandated that felons on probation would not have voting rights restored.

Previously, only felons on parole or incarcerated had their voting rights suspended.

In 2011, the Florida Board of Executive Clemency (composed of the governor and three cabinet members) reversed a 2007 policy change that automatically restored voting rights to non-violent offenders upon the completion of their sentence. The new policy requires that all ex-felons wait between five and seven years before applying to regain voting rights.

In Iowa, the governor in 2011 reversed an executive order issued in 2005 under the previous governor. The 2005 order automatically restored the voting rights of all ex-felons, but under the 2011 order they will now have to apply to regain rights.

In 2011 in Tennessee, HB 1117 was enacted, adding to the list of felons who will not be eligible to vote again.

In 2009, Washington restored the right to vote to felons who completed their sentences, while requiring them to re-register to vote.

For more detailed information on state legislation dealing with the voting rights of convicted felons, visit NCSL's 2011-current Election Legislation Database and select the subtopic "Voters-Felon Voting Rights." For legislation from the period 2001-2010, visit NCSL's 2001-2010 Election Legislation Database.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/electio...ng-rights.aspx

Maine and Vermont are the only two states where people currently in prison are actually allowed to vote.

http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2014/02/26/felon-voting/

I totally support restoring voting rights. I've always opposed taking someone's voting rights away as a part of a punishment. Your right to vote as a citizen of the United States is as inalienable as the right to breathe. It should be an untouchable right, one the government can never take away from you any time for any reason. That's why we should be very careful about who we allow to become citizens when they are not natural born citizens (natural born = born in the USA to 2 US citizens).

Republicans need to support restoring voting rights to felons. The fact that a Democrat did it in Virginia should not make it a partisan issue. It's a non-partisan matter concerning one of the most precious and should be most protected rights we have.

Allowing murderers, drug dealers, rapists and child molesters among others to vote is absurd. With the rights of citizenship comes responsibility. Those that have committed a felony crime have failed in their responsibilities as a good citizen and are being punished. With that punishment comes the revoking of certain freedoms, which, in my opinion, should include the right to vote. Someone serving time for rape, child molestation, murder, etc. should not have a say in how our society functions. Furthermore, it's beyond me why anyone would want these people involved in making decisions that could impact the rule of law.

Another good reason for not allowing prison inmates to vote is because of the possibility of undue influence through acts of coercion or the offering of rewards from prison parole boards, wardens, and guards. Prisoners live in an extremely controlled environment and are strongly influenced by those who directly control their everyday life. Moreover, prisoners do not have the ability to follow, research, and become familiar with the candidates like we do. Basically, to some extent, they're isolate from the outside world. So yes, what the warden or guard offers to give or take away from them would greatly influence their decision. Promise a prisoner more recreation time and a rib-eye steak dinner on Sunday night and you can get almost anything you want. On the other hand, threaten to reduce a prisoners rec. and phone time, same effect.

The Latest: 6,000 Puerto Rico inmates cast primary ballots

How Florida's 1 million Puerto Ricans could influence the presidential race