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. [more]