Congress is considering legislation to restore federal voting rights to former prisoners.
“The right to vote is the most basic constitutive act of citizenship,” according to the measure, SB 772, introduced March 18 and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
“An estimated 5,850,000 citizens of the United States, or about 1 in 40 adults in the United States, currently cannot vote as a result of a felony conviction. Of the 5,850,000 citizens barred from voting, only 25 percent are in prison,” the bill states.
The measure also says state disenfranchisement laws disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities.
“Given current rates of incarceration, approximately one in three of the next generation of African-American men will be disenfranchised at some point during their lifetime,” the bill states.
The bill titled “Democracy Restoration Act of 2015” says its purpose is “To secure the federal voting rights of persons when released from incarceration.”
The drafters of the bill stated that “disenfranchising citizens who have been convicted of a criminal offense and who are living and working in the community serves no compelling state interest and hinders their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.”
Various states have their own rules regarding disenfranchisement. Only two states do not disenfranchise individuals with criminal convictions (Maine and Vermont).
In the 48 other states, citizens in some states may easily regain the right to vote, and in some others, the right to vote can be restored only through a pardon from their state governor. In 11 states a conviction can result in permanent disenfranchisement.
“In six states – Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia – more than 7 percent of the total population is disenfranchised,” the bill states.
If this bill survives through both houses of Congress and is signed into law by the president, then it would provide uniform relief to disenfranchised citizens and restore their right to vote in federal elections, but not for state or local elections.
[On a June 19 visit to San Quentin News Office Congresswoman, Jackie Speier, (D) 14th U.S. Congressional District, said she supports this Bill. See, August edition for full story on Speier’s visit.]
