Maryland Restores Voting Rights for 40,000 Ex-Prisoners

[eppur_se_muova]

By Zeeshan Aleem February 10, 2016

The Maryland General Assembly on Tuesday overrode a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan of a bill that will restore the voting rights of citizens who have completed prison sentences but are still barred from voting. That means that as of this spring, the state will have 40,000 potential new voters.

With the provision's passage, Maryland becomes the 14th state in the nation to return voting rights to people who are out of prison.

Prior to the state legislature's move, those convicted of felonies were required to complete every step of their sentence before regaining the right to enter a voting booth. So while an individual may have completed their prison sentence, they still had to wait until other parts of their sentence like probation and parole supervision were completed to be re-enfranchised. The bill, which passed despite the pushback of the state's Republican governor, means that the end of an individual's time in prison marks the end of their suspended voting rights. And if someone convicted of a felony is never sentenced to prison time, they'll never lose their right to vote.
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States across the country vary a great deal in the way in which they disenfranchise felons. Some states, like Florida, strip all people with felony convictions of their voting rights for life. Others, like Alabama, allow some people with felony convictions to re-apply for voting rights if they complete their sentence and pay fines, while permanently disenfranchising people convicted of certain particularly severe crimes like murder and rape. A couple states, like Vermont, impose no disfranchisement on people with criminal convictions.

Removing and according voting rights to people with criminal convictions is a highly politicized issue. The people entangled in the criminal justice system are disproportionately likely to be low-income and people of color — demographic characteristics that skew Democratic. In the case of tight races, their presence in the electoral process would likely change outcomes, generally in favor of liberals. By some estimates, if ex-felons were re-enfranchised and voted in significant numbers, they could've reversed the result of multiple presidential elections in American history.
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http://mic.com/articles/134839/maryland-restores-voting-rights-for-40-000-ex-prisoners#.8rh20SJEn

[immoderate]

1. All citizens should be able to vote.

Even felons. Even from prison.

--imm

[Vincardog]

3. No prison is supposed to rehabilitate. Why should citizens have their rights curtailed because of

Your "fears"?.

[Mr Dixon]

6. Agreed

let them vote not as if the popular vote matters anyway

[immoderate]

7. So prisoners will be uninformed, but somehow know who will create the cushiest positions?

What's wrong with prisoners having some input into how they are treated?

Remember that half of these people don't deserve incarceration -- and society's biggest criminals will never come close to imprisonment.

--imm

[eppur_se_muova]

11. So imprison union organizers, suffragettes, anyone you don't agree with ...

and soon enough opposition to your rule will be cowed. Is that the idea ?

[KamaAina]

5. That would certainly make for some interesting local races

as prisons tend to be in rural areas, the prison vote could well swing races in the small counties where they're located. We might even see an inmate or two elected county supervisor!

[immoderate]

8. Sounds like a good movie plot.

--imm

[KamaAina]

9. You laugh and you scoff, but Eugene V. Debs ran for President from prison

and the IRA's Bobby Seale was elected to Parliament while incarcerated.

[immoderate]

10. Interesting point. I think Debs would have my vote.

My grandfather was a supporter of his.

I'm not so sure where I stand with Bobby Seale, but I generally promote diversity.

--imm

[KamaAina]

4. "overrode a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan"

Gov. Hogan is a Republican. Just sayin'.