The Sentencing Project: Disenfranchisement News/Updates 9/19/08
Alabama: Inmate Voter Registration Efforts Halted
Under pressure from the Alabama Republican Party, the efforts led by Rev. Kenneth Glasgow to register inmates so they could cast absentee ballots have been halted, the Associated Press reported. An email from State Rep. Mike Hubbard, chairman of the Republican party, told Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen that the party supports the idea of registering people to vote, but not those who are incarcerated. The letter was received after the Associated Press and other media highlighted Glasgow's success in registering 80 inmates in two days with goals to register "hundreds more" before the deadline. "I think they're more worried about me being a Democrat than anything," said Glasgow. "The chairman of the Republican Party and the chairman of the Democratic Party can go in there with me and monitor it to make sure it's nonpartisan."
Alabama law prohibits felons convicted of "crimes of moral turpitude" from voting unless they have had their rights restored. Though the Constitution does not define a crime of moral turpitude, court opinions have recently said they include murder, robbery, rape, and certain other offenses.
"A clear legal definition would not stop the debate, but it would at least clear up a few gray areas," a Clanton Advertiser editorial stated. Another editorial published in the Anniston Star in support of vote restoration stated, "It only makes sense for states to implement programs that will help released felons become productive, lawful residents who steer clear of the very activities that put them behind bars in the first place." A Times Daily editorial on the issue opposed Glasgow's efforts to register inmates. "Time in prison means a loss of personal freedoms and all but the basic right to humane treatment. Allowing inmates to vote is simply anathema to serving time for committing a crime. But allowing felons to vote inside prison walls contradicts the very nature of being punished for a crime." For more coverage, see the Montgomery Advertiser and CBS42.
National: Disenfranchisement Gets National Attention, Gains Momentum
Several states are successfully making moves to restore voting rights to individuals with felony records, with the backing of policy makers, state officials and grassroots advocates, according to a New York Times news feature. The article cited the line between bipartisan registration efforts and campaign tactics in gaining votes, in addition to the varying and confusing disenfranchisement laws of each state. Reggie Mitchell, a former voter-registration worker for People for the American Way stated, "You're talking about incredible numbers of people out there who now may have had their right to vote restored and don't even know it. In Florida, "we're talking tens of thousands of people. And in the 2000 election, in the state of Florida, 300 people made the difference."
Mississippi: Lawsuit Demands Right to Vote
The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Mississippi filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging the state's denial of voting rights to citizens with felony convictions. The Mississippi Constitution allows individuals with felony offenses to vote for president and vice president, but "election administrators are denying that right in practice," the Hudson Valley Press reported. The suit asks that citizens with felony records be allowed to register to vote by the October deadline. "With the presidential election less than two months away, Mississippi is denying thousands of citizens their fundamental right to vote," said Nancy Abudu, staff counsel with the ACLU Voting Rights Project. "By refusing to allow eligible citizens to register and vote for the highest offices in the land, Mississippi election officials are undermining the integrity of the state's election system and degrading our country's democratic principles. We will not sit back and let election supervisors continue to violate state and federal law."
According to Mississippi's constitution, people with certain felony convictions are allowed to vote for president and vice president, but not for other political offices. But because the state's voter registration application does not allow all prospective voters to register for presidential and vice presidential elections only, many voters are wrongly disqualified. The ACLU is representing Jerry Young and Christy Colley, two Mississippi residents who have been convicted of felonies in the past and cannot vote due to the flawed administration of the state's election laws.
Kristy Bennett, one of the ACLU staff attorneys wrote a commentary on the suit in the Jackson Free Press. "It is obvious that the framers of our state Constitution recognized the importance of allowing all citizens to vote for the leaders of this country, and we must continue to fight for this fundamental right today," she wrote. "Mississippi election officials are undermining the integrity of the state's election system and degrading our country's democratic principles. By filing the lawsuit, we hope that all Mississippians with felony convictions will have the opportunity to register to vote." For additional coverage, see WLBT3.
South Carolina: Elections Officials in Need of More Training
Local election officials didn't make the grade on a voting restoration survey put out by the American Civil Liberties Union, WYFF reported. The officials didn't know all the details about when individuals with felony offenses regain their right to vote in South Carolina. The ACLU and South Carolina Progressive Network released the results of their statewide survey and called for changes in state voting laws, more education and notification of vote restoration. Currently, state law allows individuals to vote once they have served their sentence, including probation and parole. Survey questions included whether people with misdemeanor convictions and those with out-of-state felony convictions could vote; 48 percent of officials state-wide answered incorrectly, according to a State article titled, "Ex-felons voting rights' questions fool officials."
"The history in South Carolina is preventing people from voting, and we're still living that history," said Brett Bursey, director of the South Carolina Progressive Network. "The people on the streets don't understand (the rules), and if they go to their election commission, they're going to get this kind of wrong information." Survey questions were asked of whoever answered the phone at the election commissions, to simulate the experience of regular callers, said Rachel Bloom of the ACLU. For more coverage, see The Post Courier
Oklahoma: Election Board Passing on Faulty Information, ACLU Survey Documents
An ACLU survey of election boards in Oklahoma's 77 counties found that 17 counties provided erroneous information on the state's re-enfranchisement policies. One county said a convicted felon was never eligible to vote again, the Associated Press reported. In actuality, individuals with felony convictions may vote once they have completed their sentence. State Rep. Mike Shelton of Oklahoma City plans to file a notification bill requiring the state to inform those of their rights upon release.
Tennessee: Excitement About Election, Elections Officials See Registration Increase
The Tennessee Coordinator of Elections reported a significant increase in the number of individuals with felony records seeking to have their rights restored, according to the Tri-State Defender. The process for Clifton Ingram included completing a Certificate of Restoration form at a County Election Commission, taking it to the Probation and Parole office to get required signatures and returning it to the Election Commission for verification. "I did what they told me to do," said Ingram, who had been putting off the vote restoration process after receiving probation for a nonviolent offense in 2006. In the past, vote restoration required a lawyer and going to court if one was sentenced before Jan. 15, 1973 or after May 18, 1981. (Individuals convicted of a felony between Jan. 15, 1973 and May 17, 1981 never lost their voting rights in Tennessee.) Today, however, individuals must also be current in child support obligations.
Florida: Statewide Ad Campaign Targets Individuals with Felony Offenses
''Our nation's future is at stake. Your voice shouldn't be silenced by your past,' states campaign ads pushed by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. The organizations launched a voter registration campaign this week targeting individuals with felony convictions whose rights have been restored. The ads are displayed in minority communities across the state in English and Spanish, the Miami Herald reported. According to CBS4, the groups have also published an online database displaying the civil rights status of those with felony convictions at www.restorerights.org. Smaller, grassroots efforts are also helping eligible individuals register to vote before the Oct. 6 deadline, including the Marion County Voters Registration Coalition which is holding a workshop Saturday. Volunteers will also be on hand to help fill out paperwork and find out what requirements must be satisfied before individuals register to vote, according to the Star Banner.
"People around the country have the mistaken impression that Florida's felon disfranchisement crisis has been adequately addressed by Governor [Charlie] Crist; sadly this is not true," Howard Simon, Executive Director, ACLU of Florida, was quoted as saying about the the governor's recent restoration efforts in the Foster Folly News. "The State had no real program to notify people of their eligibility and consequently few have registered to vote. That is why we have had to step in and launch a program that should have been conducted by Florida officials last year."
Virginia: Increase in Vote Restoration
According to the Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has restored rights for 2,305 individuals with non-violent offenses from the time he took office on Jan. 1, 2006, through the end of last month, the Daily Press reported. That is more than a 32 percent increase from the 1,736 nonviolent felons who had their rights restored from Jan. 1, 2002, through Aug. 31, 2004, leading up to the 2004 presidential race, the secretary said. The increase is attributed to the numerous organizations and churches that have taken to residents' homes and educated citizens with felony convictions about the pardon process in an effort to regain their right to vote. In Virginia, a nonviolent offender must wait three years after the expiration of his or her probation before applying to have rights restored. Those charged with a violent offense must wait five years. All fines and court restitution must also be paid.
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Gary Ross, speaking to the media
Attorney General Jerry Brown