National: The Cause and Effect of Disenfranchisement; Sen. Clinton Sponsors Disenfranchisement Legislation As a consequence of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s 1974 decision in Richardson v. Ramirez, five million Americans cannot vote as a result of a criminal conviction, states a Legal Times article written by Frank Askin. The decision, based on what Askin terms a "cynical sleight of hand" by Rehnquist, was based on a contentious interpretation of Section 2 of the 14th Amendment. On the 42nd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) announced the reintroduction of the Count Every Vote Act in both chambers of Congress. The legislation includes vote restoration for formerly incarcerated individuals for federal elections. Florida: Automatic Voter Restoration is ‘Excellent’ A New York Times editorial called Gov. Charlie Crist’s recent automatic vote restoration proposal an “excellent idea.” The editorial applauded Crist’s efforts to restore voting and civil rights for ex-offenders in Florida, and stated the move would speed up the current bureaucratic process. “Northern and Midwestern states are gradually backing away from voting bans for ex-offenders. But these antidemocratic laws remain entrenched in the Deep South, where they were enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as part of a broad effort to restrict the political influence of African Americans. And Florida has the most restrictive laws and the highest number of disenfranchised ex-offenders of any state in the country,” the editorial stated. For additional coverage, see Scoop and the Daytona Beach News Journal. Colorado: Parolee Re-enfranchisement Denied Support from Newspaper A change to Colorado Senate Bill 83 would allow parolees to vote – an issue that the Rocky Mountain News editorial board opposes. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, won preliminary passage and is expected to go to the Senate next week. A clarifying statute in the Colorado Constitution states no person “serving a sentence of parole” is eligible to register or to vote. “Whether parolees should vote is a close call, in our view. On balance, however, we stand with the current law, which was upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court as recently as last year,” the editorial stated. For more coverage, see the Colorado Senate Web site. Contact Information Email: [email protected], Web: http://www.sentencingproject.org