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Prisoner Re-Entry in the News Legislation & Reports |
Voting RightsIf a released prisoner secures housing, is eligible for food stamps, and gets financial aid for education, this individual still has to figure out how to vote. The denial of voting rights to ex-prisoners occurs in patchwork fashion across the country. Thirty-two states disenfranchise felons on parole; twenty-nine states do the same for those on probation. Fourteen states prevent ex-prisoners who have fully served their sentences from voting. In ten states, ex-felons are automatically disenfranchised and have little hope of ever regaining the vote; these include Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Virginia and Wyoming. Landmark Case Could Restore Felon Voting Rights, from Truthout (US), 2/1/10 WA: State Plans To Appeal Ruling On Felon Vote; from Seattle Times (WA), 1/6/10 WA State: Historic Opportunity For Felony Disenfranchisement; from Justice Works! (WA), 4/1/09 State-By-State Look At Felon Voting Restoration; from FindLaw.com (US), 3/23/09 Ex-Felon Voters Foiled By Confused Officials; from Truthout.org (US), 10/8/08 Angry White Republicans Thwart LEGAL Voter Registration in Alabama; from NallForGovernor (AL), 9/19/08 Imprisoned Voters Take Aim at the Presidential Election; from Huffington Post (US), 9/20/08 States Restore Voting Rights for Ex-Convicts; from New York Times (NY), 9/13/08 For Those Once Behind Bars, a Nudge to the Voting Booth; from Washington Post (DC), 8/11/08 Column: The End Of Tough-On-Crime Politics; from The Guardian (UK), 7/29/08 Film: Democracy's Ghosts: How 5.3 Million Americans Have Lost The Right To Vote; from ACLU (US) What If 5.3 Million More Americans Could Vote? from AlterNet (US), 4/20/08 In Alabama, A Fight To Regain Voting Rights Some Felons Never Lost; from New York Times (NY), 3/2/08 Editorial: Felony Disenfranchisement Aids Republicans; from TruthOut (US), 2/7/08 [Florida] Felons Seek Return Of Rights At Miami Summit; from Miami Herald (FL), 9/9/07 Roadmap Of A Progressive Victory; from AlterNet (US), 4/3/07 Crist Set To Unveil Felons' Rights Plan; from Miami Herald (FL), 4/1/07 Why Can't Felons Vote? from Time Magazine (US), 11/1/06 Barred From The Ballot Box; from Village Voice (NY), 8/25/06 RI To Revisit Felons' Voting Rights (includes state-by state breakdown); from USA Today (US), 6/1/06 Interview: Democracy Behind Bars; from AlterNet (US Web), 4/25/06 New Report: A "Crazy-Quilt" of Tiny Pieces: State and Local Administration of American Criminal Disenfranchisement Laws; from The Sentencing Project, 11/9/05 (PDF Format) -- Studies and Reports Archive Editorial: Vilsack Takes Moral Road In Felon Voting; from Iowa City Press-Citizen (IA), 6/26/05 Felon Voting Rights Conflict Hits Federal Court; from The New Standard (NY), 6/24/05 March 15, 2005, 109th Congress, 1st Session: HR 1300: Civic Participation and Rehabilitation Act of 2005. Introduced in the House by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) To ensure the Federal voting rights of persons who have been released from incarceration. February 8, 2005, 109th Congress, 1st Session: HR 663: To Secure The Federal Voting Rights Of Certain Qualified Ex-Offenders Who Have Served Their Sentences. Introduced in the House by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY). Op-Ed: Suppress the Vote? from The New York Times, 8/16/04 Related Links:American Civil Liberties Union: Voting Rights Project After Prison: Roadblocks To Reentry - A Report On State Legal Barriers Facing People With Criminal Records; from the Legal Action Resource Center (Also available in PDF Format) Visit the Legal Action Center's Rentry Resource Links Other groups or projects? Tell us about it! Email: links@november.org Please paste the URL address of this page into the e-mail, and tell us about your project, group. |
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