"I'm a convicted felon and want to vote in the Presidential election. Can you help me?"

[1Hippiechick]

Could you answer that question in your state?

Color-coded map of the US showing voting rights:

http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/exoffenders/statelegispolicy2007.html#text


An estimated 5.3 million Americans are prohibited from voting because of a felony conviction, and in 10 states a felony conviction can result in a lifetime ban from voting. Through a strategic combination of litigation, advocacy and public education, the ACLU challenges these restrictions and sparks reforms to facilitate restoration of the right to vote to persons with criminal convictions.


edited to correct link

[AllentownJake]

1. Check your link

I disagree with lifetime bans. Once a person serves their sentence they should be allowed to vote. Defining sentence though can be tricky.

I also don't understand if we are encouraging people to come back to society why would we deny them (other than in the few cases for the protection of society) being a participant of that society.

I know the answer is one particular political party benefits.

[1Hippiechick]

2. Don't know what happened to the link, but fixed it...Thanks. And yeah, we know WHICH party benefits

don't we?

[AllentownJake]

3. They seem to always benefit

by people not being able to vote. Whether its for not having a driver's license or being convicted of a crime or purging voter rolls for inactivity.

[1Hippiechick]

4. O's campaign is so on top of things - at least from what I have seen here in NC

May be that way across the country, but we were told in an organizational meeting this past Saturday that Alamance County in North Carolina is one of the top 3 or 5 counties in the entire country being targeted by the campaign. After bringing back to local headquarters the voter registrations, the O staff make a copy of the form before taking to the local election board. Since there is such a backlog of registrations wating to be entered into the system, there are O campaign volunteers who are "watchdogs" of sorts to make sure that registrations are not laid aside and not entered, for various reasons. The volunteer clarifies whatever "problem' there is with the registration, contacts the registrant and fixes the problem, and puts it back in the stack awaiting entry into the system. I have been SO impressed with what they are doing.

My particular focus in the grassroots movement is voter registration, and my particular focus is in the AA community. People who have the right to vote and don't vote is a shame. Convicted felons who have fulfilled their obligations are entitled BY LAW to vote in NC, but that word is not "gotten out" and that's criminal, IMO. So, since there are so many more minority felony convictions, that is where my heart is.

Registered a young AA male last Saturday who had been convicted of a felony who, when he answered my knock on the door, told me "I can't vote. I've been convicted of a felony." When I explained the NC laws re convicted felons voting, he got so excited! Made my day. One of the great websites in the state is www.democracy-nc.org which has a myriad of downloadable pamphlets and handouts to educate voters in NC.

[GreenInNC]

8. Democracy NC

I am on the board of this great organization and am so proud of the work that our staff and volunteers do.

The felon re-enfranchisement project has been one of our successes. The amount of mis-information out there is enormous.

[1Hippiechick]

14. Impressive! I downloaded documents - O's national reps REALLY liked the NC Voters' Bill of Rights

They want to reduce it and give has handouts for people to take to the polls. O's campaign is being careful about anything published about the felony aspect. I have downloaded and copied the 3-up "You've Been Locked Up. Don't Be Locked Out!" to have on-hand this weekend as I canvas and do door-to-door voter registration. So glad to find your website - really needed this little gem last weekend, but better late than never!

Please pass along to your organization that the information and downloads will be used--a LOT--across the state.

[GreenInNC]

17. be careful about NC law

I believe the law is that if you are canvasing for a candidate, you can not be registering voters at the same time. Back in April, the national Obama people that were shipped to the Charlotte area were not up on NC election law and had to be told what was legal and what was not. Some of the volunteers were doing some stuff that was illegal.

Our laws are very strict when it comes to registration and our forms are somewhat complicated. Contact our office in Durham and I am sure they would be able to answer any questions.

[1Hippiechick]

18. Will check on the possible conflict re canvasing/registering. Haven't had a problem w/voter

registration form, though. Maybe you are talking about forms? Have only used the 1-page voter registration forms. Thanks for the heads up.

[bluerum]

5. I am not even sure that banning voting rights while serving your sentence

is constitutional.

Many people commit crimes and are never caught, prosecuted and convicted. They still have their right to vote - and are arguably more of a threat than someone in prison or who has served their time.

In any case, I don't see a legitimate reason for convicted felons being denied voting rights.

On edit - I see from the map that Maine and Vermont are the only two states that allow prisoners to vote.

[Maine-ah]

13. huh, I didn't even know that

:hi:

[Undercurrent]

6. My state, Wasington, is terrible.

A convict must pay all debt owed as a result of their prosecution, and conviction -- fines, court costs, reimbursements etc -- before they are allowed to vote. Of course the vast majority of them are not able to do so.

From the website:

According to Washington's own statistics, more than 90 percent of felony defendants are indigent at the time of charging. It is no surprise that many ex-felons find it difficult to pay these financial assessments upon release.

The problem is widespread and impacts people of color especially hard. In 2002, according to the Department of Corrections, 46,500 ex-felons in Washington were unable to vote just because of outstanding "legal financial obligations." Disfranchisement affects about 3.7% of eligible voters in Washington - almost double the national average. And, given the racial disparity in Washington's incarceration rate, the state disfranchises almost 25% of all adult African American males.

[MagickMuffin]

7. Let me be the first to Rec. this thread

This is SO important that it should be on the greatest.

I am about to become a Deputy Registrar in Texas. This will be a excellent tool to have to register everyone, and to let them know that their voting rights have been restored.

By becoming a Deputy Registrar allows the person filing for their voters registration they are registered that very moment they fill out the form. The DR then takes the form and hand delivers it to the county elections office.

Thanks for posting this 1Hippiechick. It's good that you are informing people of their rights. :applause:

[MaineDem]

9. We've had voter reg drives at the prisons

It's usually a non-partisan educational effort.

[crispini]

10. Yes. In Texas you can vote when you're "off the paper."

This is something I have learned when doing voter registration. And it's truly a joy to tell someone that and watch their eyes light up.

[Lint Head]

11. Thank God G. Gordon Liddy is a convicted felon!

:dem:

[Onlooker]

12. And many prisons are strategically placed to help Republicans

I read awhile ago that Republicans have put up prisons in key locations in order to increase populations and making gerrymandering easier. The Republicans are completely sleazy.

[Hippo_Tron]

15. I'm in one of the states that is red, I don't get what that means

Can they vote if they are out on parole or does "completing your sentence" include completing parole as well.

[1Hippiechick]

16. The red states on the map are the ones described beneath the map. Did you read the description for

your particular state? There may be additional info on the ACLU website, or google your state election board and search for felon rights, can felons vote..something like that.....

[1Hippiechick]

21. My bust - my response was not accurate about all the red states being described. Sorry! n/t

[davidpdx]

19. I'm a little surprised Vermont and Maine allow prisoners to vote

My state is green, which given the situation is pretty liberal given 35 other states have harsher laws. I was part of Western Prison Project in Oregon for a couple of years and participated in a lobby day in Salem. I'd like to see some of these other states allow the participation of people who are out on parole and probation in the election process.

[awoke_in_2003]

20. To all ex-felons out there

Sorry about the voting thing, but don't feel too bad- you can always get a job with the next republican administration

[jody]

22. When a convicted felon's civil rights are restored without exceptions, that includes voting & RKBA,

the Right to Keep and Bear Arms for self-defense.

RKBA is an enumerated right protected by the Second Amendment.

Thanks to those who post to this thread calling for the restoration of civil rights to convicted felons.

[1Hippiechick]

23. Hmmm..hadn't thought of that aspect of it....but that's great - rights are rights..n/t

[loyalsister]

24. Are you still on paper?

If not, you can vote. Just register and your all set.
--- If you live in Missouri.

[gateley]

25. How does one know if they're ineligible to vote?

A friend in Washington was convicted of a felony, yet his name continued to appear on the sign-in sheets at the polls, so he kept voting.

He moved to California and registered there, and is still happily voting.

Do they remove his vote after he's voted? Or did he slip through the cracks?

Who notifies the board of elections to remove a voter's name, anyway?

[Dinger]

26. K & R

Important

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

27. Is it just me or is denying the right to vote after a sentence is done incredibly evil?

What are they afraid of? That organized former felons will write in Charles Manson?

It's petty and vindictive. Ah, and if the person's crime was not violent, that applies to RKBA too.

[Barack_America]

28. Absolutely can for PA.

The general rule of thumb is if they're out talking to you (i.e. not currently incarcerated), they can register and vote. The exception is for persons currently serving parole time in a halfway house (but others on parole are eligible).

Persons in prison, but awaiting trial for a felony are eligible to register and vote, but cannot use the prison as their address.

Persons in prison for misdeamenors (awaiting trial or convicted) are eligible to register and vote (same rules apply regarding the address).

The law prohibiting convicted felons from voting was just overturned in 2000, so there is still a lot of confusion in the community about this.

http://www.votespa.com/IAMHOMEPAGE/ConvictedFelonorDetainee/tabid/225/language/en-US/Default.aspx