Maryland: Senate scheduled to vote to overturn veto of felon voting bill | The Washington Post

The Maryland Senate is scoheduled to vote Friday on overturning Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that granted voting rights to felons who are on parole and probation. The vote will be the sixth veto override by the Democratic-controlled legislature, and will send a strong message to Hogan (R) about the power that Democrats, who are still grappling with Hogan’s victory and popularity, continue to wield in the State House. “It’s a huge victory for voting rights, not just in Maryland but in the country,” Jane Henderson, executive director of Communities United, said Thursday, anticipating the override and the bill becoming law. The Senate passed the measure last year with a 29 to 18 vote, a veto-proof majority. The governor vetoed the bill, arguing that former inmates who are released from prison on parole and probation have not finished their sentences and should not be have their right to vote restored until they do.
Hogan said current law, which restores voting rights to felons who are off parole and probation, strikes “the proper balance between the repayment of obligations to society for a felony conviction and the restoration of the various restricted rights.”
Advocates and lawmakers who support the override have said that felons on parole and probation are expected to be productive members of society and, in turn, should play a role in the democratic process. “It doesn’t poll well, but it’s the right thing to do,” said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert).
Full Article: Maryland Senate scheduled to vote to overturn veto of felon voting bill – The Washington Post.