The House Judiciary Committee advanced bills Thursday that would expand automatic restoration of voting rights to nonviolent felons, create a more defined system for returning a victim’s property held as evidence and allow the state Department of Enterprise Technology Services to conduct background checks on employees. A bill introduced by Rep. James Byrd, D-Cheyenne, would automatically restore voting rights to more nonviolent felons. House Bill 75 eliminates the application process for nonviolent felons who have completed their sentence to have their voting rights restored. Instead, it directs the Wyoming Department of Corrections to automatically issue certificates of voting rights restoration to affected people if their conviction was in Wyoming. Felons convicted outside of Wyoming or by a federal law would have to submit a request to the Department of Corrections.
The department would also have to notify the respective county clerk that voting rights have been restored if the felon is a Wyoming resident.
Byrd said he thinks whether a felon should continue to be punished for his or her crime should be left up to the courts, not the Legislature. “That’s what this is – additional sentencing above and beyond parole,” he said of the voting restrictions.
Marguerite Herman of the League of Women Voters said the organization supports the bill. She said restoring voting rights builds a stronger democracy. She also said the state already takes “the very conservative route” with regard to restoring voting rights.
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