Many Americans were disenfranchised when Jim-Crow-Type Laws prevented 5.3 million people from voting in the United States in the last election.

The Cambridge dictionary defines disenfranchise as “to take away power or opportunities, especially the right to vote, from a person or group.” We are all familiar with the United States history of disenfranchising the black vote and the female vote and the poor vote. There was a time when African Americans and Women could not vote. Even once laws were enacted to let them vote, several states had introduced Jim Crow laws like poll taxes and literacy test in an attempt to prevent African Americans and other minority groups from voting. The U.S. is one of few western democracies that the permanent disenfranchisement of those with past felony convictions. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) into law in 1965 to get rid of the Jim Crow laws and restore voting to all.

But there are others now being disenfranchised. Some rules are instituted by counties or states to disenfranchise the poor. This is usually done by republicans in an effort to lower the number of democrats voting. I was caught by one of these laws when I tried to vote. I live in a house on a commercial lot next to a store. The store and house are owned by the same person. When I went to vote in Berrien County Michigan I was told I could not vote because I lived in a store and not a residence. Only people who live in residentially zoned houses were allowed to vote.  So, what about nursing homes, can no one there vote? What about homeless people, can their voice not be heard?  Voting disenfranchising is alive in America still.

There is another group of over 5.3 million Americans that are not allowed to vote. Those are people with convictions even if they have served their debt to society and are now out of jail and back in the community with jobs, paying taxes, and being model citizens. They can do almost anything any citizen can do, except vote. CivilRights.Org says Four million of them are out of prison, living, working, and raising families in their communities and would have their federal voting rights restored under this legislation

There is a hodge podge of laws about this from state to state. In Vermont and Maine all people convicted even those in Jail can vote. In some states, like Virginia and Kentucky permanently deny voting rights to those with felony convictions. Some states like Michgan and Illionis even strip voting rights from people with only a misdemeanor convictions. All the other states have laws in between these extremes which leads to wide spread confusion amoung poll workers which sometimes leads to eligible citizens being denied the right to vote.

In the United States, 13% of all African American men have lost the right to vote, 7 times the national average.

Erika Wood, Brennan Center for Justice, says that in some states up to a third of African American men have lost the right to vote. These laws are firmly rooted in the Jim Crow era, they were intended to keep African Americans from voting, and they were passed right alongside poll taxes and literacy tests.

CivilRights.org says:

Felony disenfranchisement laws were originally passed during the Jim Crow-era to prevent Blacks from participating in elections.  If current trends continue, one-third of the next generation of African-American men will be disenfranchised during their lifetime.  The U.S. is one of few western democracies that the permanent disenfranchisement of those with past felony convictions.

It should be a basic civil right that every person should be able to participate in the democratic process by voting. Voting will help those people coming back out into society to build a sense of civic responsibility.

From the American for Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

Under current Arizona law, individuals who commit felonies are stripped of their civil rights, including the right to vote, serve on a jury and run for some public offices. These civil rights are not restored – even after release from prison and completion of parole and probation – unless they have paid all of their legal financial obligations to the state, including docket and filing fees, court costs, restitution and costs of incarceration, including interest on these debts.

Arizona’s felon voting ban is one of the strictest in the nation, with one of every 23 citizens unable to vote. The state maintains the eighth highest rate of disfranchisement in the nation. An estimated 176,103 persons are disfranchised in the state as a result of a felony conviction. Forty-four percent of these persons have completed their sentences. …

“Stripping low-income citizens of their basic right to vote has no place in a functioning democracy,” said Dan Pochoda, ACLU of Arizona Legal Director. “Even when people have completed their prison time and have been released back into society, our state puts up barriers to voting – barriers that are based strictly on economics.”

The NCSL National Conference on State Legislatures has a Restoration Process list state by state but it is 10 years old so its very outdated. I give you the link in hopes the page is updated:

http://www.ncsl.org/LegislaturesElections/ElectionsCampaigns/VotingRightsRestorationProcess/tabid/16529/Default.aspx

The New York Times says that restoring the vote to felons is difficult, because it must be done state by state, and because ex-convicts do not have much of a political lobby. There have been legislative successes in recent years in some places, including Alabama and Nevada. But other states have been moving in the opposite direction. The best hope of reform may lie in the courts. The Atlanta-based United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the San Francisco-based Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have ruled recently that disenfranchising felons may violate equal protection or the Voting Rights Act. Source : Published in the New York Times Opionin http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/opinion/felons-and-the-right-to-vote.html

But now there is a bill making its way through congress called the Democracy Restoration Act that will resort voting rights in federal elections to those people who have convictions and have been released from prison and are living in the community. The bill was introduced by Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Representative John Conyers (D-MI) as H.R. 3335 and S. 1516 on July 24^th, 2009. There will be a Congressional briefing on the bill on December 11^th at 1:00 pm in Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226. Go to the Brennan Center at the New York University School of Law http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/democracy_restoration_act_of_2008/ to find more information on  this bill and the meeting in congress.

Here is the press release from Senator Feingold’s office:

Feingold, Conyers Continue Effort to Restore Voting Rights for Millions of Americans
PRESS RELEASES

– 07/27/09

Posted by Senator Feingold’s office. The orginal press release can be viewed here.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Jeanine Plant-Chirlin, 212-998-6289
Susan Lehman, 212-998-6318

Washington – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) are continuing their effort to restore voting rights for million of Americans.  Feingold and Conyers reintroduced the Democracy Restoration Act, legislation that would reinstate the right to vote in federal elections for millions of Americans with a conviction in their past who are out of prison, living in the community.  In America today, more than five million citizens are unable to vote due a felony conviction, nearly three-quarters of whom are no longer in prison.  Feingold and Conyers’ bill would allow these Americans to exercise their right to vote if they are no longer incarcerated.

“Voting helps to build a sense of civic responsibility and commitment to community; denying this fundamental right does nothing to help people with a conviction in their past become better citizens,” Senator Feingold said.  “The expansion of voting rights to the poor, women, minorities and young people is one of the greatest stories in our country’s history.  We should continue this legacy by expanding the right to vote to those who have fully paid their debt to society.”

“There is a growing nationwide movement to restore voting rights to people who are out of prison, living in the community.  Those calling for change include law enforcement officers, religious leaders and elections officials,” said Erika Wood, Director of the Right to Vote Project at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “The Democracy Restoration Act will eliminate the last blanket barrier to the franchise in our country.”

Feingold and Conyers’ bill builds on a growing enfranchisement movement.  In the last decade, 20 states have reformed their laws to expand the franchise or ease voting rights restoration procedures.  Most recently, the state of Washington enacted a law easing the restoration of voting rights for people who are no longer in custody.  According to the Brennan Center for Justice and the Sentencing Project, 5.3 million American citizens are not allowed to vote because of a felony conviction. Nearly four million people of them are no longer, or never were, in prison, and approximately two million have completed their entire sentence, including probation and parole.

For more information or to set up an interview with Erika Wood, please contact Jeanine Plant-Chirlin at 212-998-6289 or jeanine.plant-chirlin@nyu.edu or Susan Lehman at 212-998-6318 or susan.lehman@nyu.edu.

And from the United Nations: Human rights standards protecting the right to vote, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, are robust because the right to vote is fundamental in every way. And yet the United States continues to fail to protect the voting rights of minority communities, in violation of the United States’ commitments under international treaties that enshrine the right to vote. Source http://www.aclu.org/blog/human-rights-racial-justice-voting-rights/fighting-voting-rights-all-americans

One conservative web site said:

well, why not let felons vote?  Because you don’t have a right to make laws if you aren’t willing to follow them yourself. To participate in self-government, you must be willing to accept the rule of law.

I answer that once someone is out of Jail they have served their time and until they show they are not willing to abide by the laws they should be afforded every right of citizenship.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D. Md. agrees when he says:

“The expansion of voting rights to the poor, women, minorities and young people is one of the greatest stories in our country’s history.  We should continue this legacy by expanding the right to vote to those who have fully paid their debt to society.”

Its time for America to be great again. Restore voting rights to all citizens. Call you congressmen and senators and urge them to vote for the Democracy Restoration Act (DRA) H.R. 3335 and S. 1516.

See larger image Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy (Studies in Crime and Public Policy) (Paperback) By (author) Jeff Manza, Christopher Uggen List Price: $18.95 USD New From: $15.94 In Stock Used from: $11.99 In Stock