Restoring the Right to Vote
Publications
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Recommendations.
About the author.
From the introduction. Download for footnotes.
The right to vote forms the core of American democracy. Our history is marked by successful struggles to expand the franchise, to include those previously barred from the electorate because of race, class, or gender. As a result our democracy is richer, more diverse, and more representative of the people than ever before. There remains, however, one significant blanket barrier to the franchise. 5.3 million American citizens are not allowed to vote because of a felony conviction. As many as 4 million of these people live, work and raise families in our communities, but because of a conviction in their past they are still denied the right to vote.
Felony disenfranchisement serves no legitimate purpose. More disconcerting, these laws are rooted in the Jim Crow era and were designed to lock freed slaves out of the voting process. It is time to remove this last barrier to the franchise.
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law proposes automatic post-incarceration voting rights restoration one in each of the 35 states that still disenfranchise people who are no longer in prison [click here to see a map of disenfranchisement laws, published Feb. 25, 2008].
Under this system, citizens released from prison would be immediately eligible to vote while on probation and parole, as are those who are sentenced to probation without serving any time in prison. These citizens would be permitted to register in precisely the same way as other eligible citizens, without submission of special paperwork.
Specifically, the Brennan Center proposes that all vote restoration policies:
- Automatically restore voting rights upon release from prison. Voting rights should not be contingent upon payment of fees, fines, restitution, or other legal financial obligations.
- Ensure that criminal defendants receive notice: (1) before conviction and sentencing to prison, that they will lose their voting rights while in prison; and (2) upon release from prison, that they are again eligible to register and vote. There remains one significant blanket barrier to the franchise. 5.3 million American citizens are not allowed to vote because of a felony conviction.
- Assist eligible voters with registration. Make the Department of Corrections and Probation and Parole authorities responsible for assisting with voluntary voter registration. Ensure that all citizens are subject to the same application procedures.
- Synchronize statewide voter registration databases. Names on the state’s computerized list of registered voters should be marked inactive upon a person’s imprisonment and then reactivated upon release from incarceration by electronic information-sharing between criminal justice agencies and elections agencies.
- Educate eligible voters. The state’s chief election official should be responsible for educating other government agencies and the public about the new law.
Policy Recommendations
Laws establishing automatic post-incarceration voting rights restoration should not only change voter eligibility rules but also guarantee that the new rules are widely understood and consistently enforced. The Brennan Center proposes that such laws include the following elements to ensure that citizens can actually exercise the rights that are restored on paper.
- Restoration: Automatically restore voting rights upon release from prison. Ensure that restoration is not contingent upon payment of fees, fines, restitution, or other legal financial obligations. Citizens released from prison may not be released from liability for payment, but the debt will not preclude exercise of the franchise.
- Notice: Ensure that criminal defendants are informed: (1) before conviction and sentencing to prison, that they will lose their voting rights; and (2) upon release from prison, that they are again eligible to register and vote. • Voter Registration: Make the Department of Corrections and Probation and Parole authorities responsible for assisting with voluntary voter registration. Ensure that all citizens are subject to the same application procedures.
- Statewide Voter Registration Database: Ensure that names on the state’s computerized list of registered voters are marked inactive upon a person’s imprisonment and then reactivated upon release from incarceration by electronic information- sharing between criminal justice agencies and elections agencies.
- Education: Make the state’s chief election official responsible for educating other government agencies and the public about the new law.
States that currently have automatic post-incarceration voting rights restoration but do not include all of these provisions should amend their laws to add the missing elements. The Brennan Center for Justice has drafted a model bill incorporating all of these provisions, to which policymakers may look for guidance, and we would be happy to provide assistance in making any needed amendments. The bill is included as an Appendix to this proposal.
About the Author
Erika Wood is the Deputy Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice where she lead's the Right to Vote Project, a national campaign to restore voting rights to people with criminal records, and works on redistricting reform as part of the Center's Government Accountability Project. Ms. Wood is an Adjunct Professor at NYU Law School where she teaches the Brennan Center Public Policy Advocacy Clinic. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Wood was an attorney with the Legal Action Center where she worked on cases involving HIV/AIDS discrimination and privacy, as well as various criminal justice issues. Ms. Wood earned her B.A. cum laude from New York University and graduated with honors from the Rutgers School of Law where she was editor of the Race & the Law Review and earned the Kinoy-Stavis Fellowship and the Myron Harkavey prize.