A bill to make it easier for nonviolent felons to regain their voting rights was approved Friday by a legislative committee in Wyoming. The Joint Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the measure that would ultimately create an automatic process to restore the rights. The full Legislature will consider the bill when it convenes early next year. Under current law, people convicted of a single nonviolent felony or a number of nonviolent felonies stemming from the same event, must wait five years before applying to the state parole board for restoration of their voting rights.
The bill approved Friday calls for dropping the waiting period and streamlining the process.
Steve Lindly, deputy director of the Wyoming Department of Corrections, said his agency and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation would determine if a person is eligible to vote after a conviction.
Full Article: Felon voting rights bill advances in committee.