Iowa: Court case: 20,000 felons’ voting rights at stake | Des Moines Register

More than 20,000 Iowa felons could be poised to regain their voting rights as part of a landmark case that will be heard Wednesday by the state Supreme Court. Iowa justices will hear arguments in the case of a southeast Iowa woman who is challenging the Iowa law that permanently strips felons of their voting rights. Kelli Jo Griffin, 42, was convicted in 2008 of a felony cocaine delivery charge and had completed her sentence when she took her children in November 2013 to watch her vote in a municipal election, only to be charged with perjury for voting as a felon. A ruling in favor of Griffin and her lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa could radically alter what critics have long argued is one of the nation’s harshest felon disenfranchisement laws. But county prosecutors and auditors fear that such a ruling will make a mess of election procedures statewide.

Iowa: Voting rights case has high stakes for Iowa felons who voted | Associated Press

One is a sex offender who failed to register. Another stabbed a fellow teen to death in the 1970s. A third illegally possessed a firearm, and the other two have drug convictions. All five northeastern Iowa residents are charged with illegally voting in the 2012 presidential election as ineligible felons. But the Iowa Supreme Court will consider which offenders lose their voting rights in the first place: all felons or only a tiny fraction who commit specific “infamous crimes”? While the five defendants are not directly involved in the case, they would benefit from a ruling that narrowly limits the crimes that trigger lifetime voting bans. Oral arguments are Wednesday in Des Moines. The Supreme Court case has gained widespread attention because Iowa has one of the nation’s harshest bans against voting by felons. Critics say it’s a stain on the state’s progressive civil rights record and disproportionately limits blacks from voting and holding public office.

National: U.S. states giving more ex-felons voting rights back | Reuters

Baltimore community organizer Perry Hopkins, 55, is looking forward to stepping into a voting booth for the first time in his life this election season. Hopkins lost his never-exercised right to vote when he was convicted for drug and other offenses. He gained it back last month when Maryland joined a growing list of U.S. states making it easier for ex-convicts to vote. “To have the right to vote now is empowering. I’m stoked,” said Hopkins, who spent a total of 19 years in prison for non-violent crimes, and was one of 40,000 in the state to regain his right to vote from a legislative action. “I plan to vote in every election possible. I’m voting for mayor, I’m voting for city councilman in my district, and, yes, I’m voting for president,” said Hopkins. He hopes to vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, on Nov. 8. Hopkins is among some 800,000 Americans who have regained the right to vote in the last two decades as about two dozen states have eased restrictions on felons casting ballots, according to the Sentencing Project, a prison reform advocacy group.

National: Many ex-felons don’t know they can get their right to vote restored | witf

On a Tuesday afternoon in December, Richard Walker stood on the corner outside the city’s social services building and hollered.
“Hey! I’m helping people who’ve got a felony conviction like me get their rights back. You know anybody like that?” Walker, 57, called out to office workers in suits, the women in line for cheap cell phones and the young man pushing a baby stroller down East Marshall Street. Every few minutes he brought someone back to a card table where he patiently explained the forms they would need to fill out to have their right to vote restored after a felony conviction. Walker soothed their worries: It’s OK if you have outstanding fines, it’s OK if it was a long time ago, it’s all OK. For three hours, he moved nonstop. Then he tallied up the forms he had stuffed into a manila envelope and walked them across the street to the government office where they would be processed.

Kentucky: House, Senate disagree on felon voting rights | The State Journal

Pam Newman said her mother served out a felony sentence in Pennsylvania and could vote again in that state, but when her family moved to Kentucky her mother’s voting right was taken away. During a bill hearing Wednesday, Newman pleaded with lawmakers that the time had come for a change to the state’s voting restoration laws. Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) testified on his bill giving state residents a chance to add an amendment to Kentucky’s constitution which would give the General Assembly the right to decide felon eligibility for voting right restoration. Restoring felon voting rights has become an evergreen issue in the legislative session for at least 10 years.

Kentucky: Bill to restore felon voting rights advances | Courier-Journal

A Senate committee on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would give the General Assembly the power to restore voting rights to convicted felons without the need for a gubernatorial pardon. Senate Bill 299 wouldn’t automatically restore voting rights like House Bill 70 would, but instead it would allow the legislature to do it by statute. It passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee on a 10-0 vote. Under the Kentucky Constitution, only the governor has the authority to restore voting rights. Proponents have argued that once someone serves their sentence, they should have rights restored in an effort to assimilate them back into the community.

Maryland: Democrats barraged with hate mail, calls after expanding felon voting rights | The Washington Post

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s pointed attacks on Democrats who overturned his veto of expanded voting rights for felons appear to have tapped into a current of anger among some state residents, who are sending hate mail and making threatening phone calls to lawmakers who voted for the override. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) read excerpts of letters his office has received since the Senate voted last week on the felon voting rights bill, which will allow felons to vote while they are on probation or parole. “You need to check yourself, you moron,” one letter said. “You are only selfish fools.” At least one senator who voted for the override said his office received a call from a man who said he hoped that the senator’s wife and daughter would be raped and murdered.

Maryland: Released felons gain right to vote in Maryland following veto override | Baltimore Sun

More than 40,000 recently released Maryland felons will regain the right to vote in time for this year’s election. The legislature on Tuesday narrowly overturned Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill to extend voting rights to felons before they complete probation and parole. The reversal both dealt a political blow to the Republican governor, who lobbied to prevent the bill from becoming law, and set the stage for an estimated 20,000 former inmates to cast ballots in Baltimore’s primary election for mayor and City Council this spring. The issue drew passionate debate from both sides on the proper message to send former inmates rejoining society. The bill was the sixth that Hogan vetoed from last year’s General Assembly, and the sixth the Democratic-controlled legislature reinstated this year. The House of Delegates voted to override Hogan’s veto last month, and on Tuesday, the Senate voted 29-18 to overrule the governor.

Maryland: Voting Rights Restored for 40,000 Felons | The Atlantic

The Maryland General Assembly restored Tuesday the right to vote for more than 40,000 released felons, overriding a veto by Governor Larry Hogan. Maryland’s Senate approved the bill on a narrow 29-18 vote, while the state House of Delegates voted 85-56 in favor of it on January 20. Under the state’s previous laws, felons regained the right to vote after completing their entire sentence, including probation or parole. The new law restores voting rights to felons who are no longer imprisoned, but are still under probation or parole. About 44,000 Marylanders will regain their vote under the new law, according to the Washington Post. The law goes into effect in 30 days, just over one month before the state’s primary elections on April 26.

Iowa: High court to consider state’s ban on voting by felons | Associated Press

In a major voting rights case, the Iowa Supreme Court will consider whether to relax the state’s lifetime ban on voting by convicted felons. The court said last week it would hear the case, which could clear up longstanding confusion over which of the state’s tens of thousands of former offenders are eligible to vote. American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and other civil rights groups want the court to restore many of their voting rights before the November presidential election, in which Iowa could be a pivotal state. The decision could come this summer. Iowa is one of three states — with Kentucky and Florida — with lifetime voting bans for felons unless their rights are restored by the governor.

Editorials: A Victory for Voting Rights in Maryland | The New York Times

The state laws that will bar nearly six million people with felony convictions from voting in this year’s presidential election are the shame of the democratic world. Virtually all disenfranchised Americans would be free to vote were they citizens of countries like Australia, Spain, France, Ireland or Germany. Indeed, many nations around the world view voting rights as so fundamental to citizenship that they bring the ballot box right into prison. By contrast, three quarters of this country’s disenfranchised voters live outside the prison walls: Some have actually completed their sentences, while others are on probation or parole.

Maryland: Some in GOP ask whether Zucker should vote on Senate override | The Washington Post

On the eve of what is expected to be a close vote in the Maryland Senate to expand felon voting rights, some Republicans are raising questions about whether a newly appointed Democratic senator should participate. Joe Cluster, executive director of the state GOP, said Sen. Craig Zucker (D-Montgomery) should recuse himself when the Senate votes on whether to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a 2015 bill that would allow felons to vote while on parole or probation. Zucker voted in favor of the override as a member of the House of Delegates last month, before he was sworn in to fill a Senate seat vacated by former senator Karen Montgomery (D-Montgomery). Democratic leaders have said they will need his support to amass the 29 votes needed for the override to pass the Senate.

Kentucky: House passes felon voting restoration bill | The Daily Independent

The General Assembly paused Thursday to honor former state senator and civil rights activist Georgia Davis Powers, whose body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. But the memorial service didn’t prevent the two chambers from passing a couple of bills that they’ve previously passed but failed to secure approval from the other chamber. The Democratic House passed House Bill 70 that would place a proposed constitutional amendment before voters that, if approved, would automatically restore the voting rights of ex-felons convicted of non-violent, non-sexual crimes after completion of their sentences. It was an issue which two years ago brought Powers to the Capitol where she urged lawmakers to pass the measure, then sponsored by Lexington attorney and state Rep. Jesse Crenshaw who has since retired from the General Assembly.

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.

Kentucky: Once Again Lawmakers Consider Restoring Voting Rights | Public News Service

An effort to automatically restore voting rights to nonviolent offenders who have served their time has, once again, sailed out of committee in the Kentucky House to an uncertain fate. The idea has cleared the full House every year since 2007, but has been repeatedly blocked in the Senate. The legislation would put a proposal on the ballot for a constitutional amendment, for Kentuckians to decide. Rep. Derrick Graham, a Democrat from Frankfort, is a cosponsor of House Bill 70. “These people have paid their debt to society,” says Graham. “We ought to provide them with hope; we ought to provide them with opportunity. We should be forgiving them.”

Kentucky: Powers’ spirit invoked in renewed effort to restore felons’ voting rights | WAVE

A House panel took less than 10 minutes to approve unanimously, a bill that would allow those convicted of non-violent felonies to regain their rights to vote. Supporters have invoked the name of the first woman and first person of color to serve in the Kentucky Senate, who died Jan. 30 at the age of 92. “Georgia Powers, she said it best,” Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D-Lexington) told the House Committee on Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs on Monday. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude and right now, Kentucky is failing!”

Louisiana: State high court overturns bar to felons running for office | Associated Press

The Louisiana Supreme Court has overturned a constitutional amendment barring felons from running for office because voters approved a version without a last-minute legislative change. “Simply stated, what the citizens voted on was not what the legislature enacted,” Justice John L. Weimer wrote for the 6-1 majority in a lawsuit brought by former state Sen. Derrick Shepherd. Voters had approved an amendment in 1997 forbidding convicted felons from running for office for 15 years after the end of their sentences. However, the version on the ballot omitted an amendment exempting those sentenced only to probation.

Editorials: Ex-offenders and the right to vote in Maryland | E.R. Shipp/Baltimore Sun

These are probably frightening words to anyone who wants to maintain the political status quo: “I have a criminal record. I pledge to vote in 2016 elections because I care about my neighborhood and want to add my voice to improve everyone’s quality of life.” Let’s just suppose that a significant barrier to voting in Maryland is removed Feb. 5th and residents with felony convictions are allowed to vote as soon as they leave prison, rather than having to wait until they complete community supervision requirements. “We’re talking about infusing maybe 40,000 voters into the democratic process,” says Perry Hopkins, a community organizer who has been ubiquitous on this issue as well as on the untenable conditions that led city housing officials to agree to pay up to $8 million to settle sexual harassment claims brought by some of its public housing tenants.

Alabama: Committee working to restore felons’ voting rights | Montgomery Advertiser

In a meeting room in Alabama’s State House on Wednesday afternoon, Pastor Kenneth Glasgow, a longtime advocate for those who have been incarcerated in the state, looked across the room at Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn and announced, with a laugh, that they were in agreement. That exchange came after several minutes of discussion on the intricacies of imposed court fees, but the conclusion was a microcosm of the meeting of the Voter Disenfranchisement and Restoration of Voting Rights Exploratory Committee – a mishmash of state officials, law enforcement, court workers, legislators and public advocates.

Oklahoma: Legislation filed to clarify voting state’s rights law | Tulsa World

Legislation intended to clarify state law pertaining to restoration of a convict’s voting rights has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, filed House Bill 2277 for consideration during the second regular session of the 55th Oklahoma Legislature, which convenes Feb. 1. HB 2277 provides that anyone convicted of a felony could register to vote upon having “fully served” his/her sentence, “including any term of incarceration, parole or supervision,” or after completing a probationary period imposed by a judge.

Maryland: House votes to overturn Larry Hogan’s veto of felon voting rights | Baltimore Sun

Maryland’s Democrat-led legislature began the process Wednesday of overriding Gov. Larry Hogan’s vetoes, with one chamber upholding legislation that would allow felons to regain the right to vote sooner. After a passionate, 45-minute debate, members of the House of Delegates voted, 85-56, to uphold the bill they passed last year that allows people convicted of felonies to vote as soon as they leave prison. The House reached the minimum number of votes needed to override Hogan’s veto after the bill received 82 votes last year. The House also overrode the Republican governor’s vetoes of a Howard County bill that changes the way hotel taxes are collected and $2 million in the state budget that was earmarked for the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, a community arts center in House Speaker Michael E. Busch’s district. The Senate is expected to vote on veto overrides on Thursday.

Maryland: Senate postpones vote on Larry Hogan’s veto of felon voting rights bill | Baltimore Sun

The Maryland Senate on Thursday postponed its attempt to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of legislation that would give felons the right to vote as soon as they leave prison. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat, said Thursday the vote was moved to Feb. 5 to allow the chamber time to fill an open seat. Lawmakers did override five other vetoes Thursday. Two bills will change the way hotel taxes are collected, $2 million will go toward the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, a community arts center in House Speaker Michael E. Busch’s district, possession of a marijuana pipe will become a civil offense, not a crime and the power of police and prosecutors to seize property will be limited.

Alabama: Lawmakers to push for ex-felon voting rights | The Anniston Star

A small group of Alabama officials is pushing for a clearer legal definition of “moral turpitude,” a change that could restore voting rights to some ex-felons. “When they’ve paid their fees and served their time, they ought to be integrated back into society,” said Secretary of State John Merrill. “Voting ought to be part of that.” Merrill on Wednesday will convene the last meeting of a task force he appointed to study voting rights of ex-felons, and the group is expected to vote on its recommendations for restoring the vote to some former prison inmates. Merrill can’t set the voting rules by himself, but he said he expects them to be filed as bills before the Alabama Legislature convenes next month.

Maryland: Veto-override battle begins Wednesday in Annapolis | The Washington Post

Maryland’s majority-Democrat House of Delegates will vote Wednesday on whether to overturn at least two of Gov. Larry Hogan’s vetoes, marking the first direct showdown between lawmakers and the Republican governor of the 2016 legislative session. The state Senate has delayed its override votes until Thursday, because two senators will be absent on Wednesday. Each chamber needs a three-fifths majority to override a veto. The House will decide whether to reinstate a bill that would require online hotel booking companies to collect sales tax for the entire cost of a hotel room in Howard County and give that full amount to the state, rather than keeping part of it as a service fee. It will also try to resurrect a measure that would provide $2 million for capital improvements to a performing arts hall in Annapolis.

Maryland: Voting rights for felons spurs impassioned debate | Baltimore Sun

Robinette Barmer woke up in Baltimore last week with paralyzing arthritis, but she crawled out of bed anyway and kept moving until she was on the steps of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, shouting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at Maryland’s governor. Barmer, 60, and the crowd around her hoped to persuade the legislature to override what’s become the most contentious veto issued by Gov. Larry Hogan, one that canceled a law granting voting rights to felons more quickly. Currently, they have to first finish their probation or parole. Of the six bills Hogan, a Republican, vetoed last year, none faces tougher odds for an override than two that would give 40,000 felons the right to vote before their sentences are complete.

Maryland: Over 40,000 Ex-Offenders In Maryland Could Regain Their Voting Rights | Huffington Post

Over 40,000 people with past felony convictions who are on probation or parole will have their voting rights restored if a veto override attempt is successful in Maryland legislature next week. In Maryland, someone with a past felony conviction is barred from voting until he or she finishes their probation or parole. Legislation sent to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk last spring would have changed that, by allowing people to vote once they’ve left prison. Hogan, who is immensely popular in the state, vetoed the legislation, setting up a fight with Democrats, who control both legislative chambers. On Wednesday, the Democrats’ leadership signaled that they would vote to override Hogan’s veto next Tuesday or Wednesday. If the veto override succeeds, Maryland will join the 13 states, plus the District of Columbia, that allow all people with felony convictions who have left prison to vote in elections.

Editorials: Presidential Election Year? Not For Millions of Ex-Felons | Yosha Gunasekera/Huffington Post

Incoming Kentucky Governor, Matt Bevin, set to work quickly. Through a series of executive orders, Bevin ensured that thousands of poor and minority individuals would not vote this year or potentially ever. Bevin reversed the work of his predecessor, former Governor Steven L. Beshear, who sought to ensure that Kentucky would no longer be one of only three states to permanently ban felons from voting. Bevin’s executive orders continue the long and repressive system of disenfranchising and alienating ex-felons. Almost six million Americans will not have the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to vote because they have been convicted of a felony. Ex-felons are released back into society with the expectation that they will lead full, law-abiding lives. However, denying felons fundamental freedoms that all other Americans enjoy make them second-class citizens. Out of the six million felons who have lost the right to vote, two-thirds have already completed their prison time. However, the punishment continues.

Maryland: Baltimore City Council urges override of Hogan’s veto of sooner voting rights for ex-offenders | Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore City Council on Monday urged the Maryland General Assembly to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that would have given voting rights to ex-offenders while on probation or supervised release. “There is a movement to override this veto,” said City Councilman Brandon Scott, who sponsored a resolution calling for an override that was adopted by the council. “These people are taxpayers. With everything that happened in our city, we should realize that we should invite people back into society.”

Kentucky: New Governor Takes Back the Vote | The New York Times

Matt Bevin, Kentucky’s new governor, has only been in office a couple of weeks, but he’s already managed to re-disenfranchise tens of thousands of his state’s residents with the stroke of a pen. He did it by reversing an executive order issued late last month by his predecessor, Steven Beshear, that made as many as 140,000 Kentuckians with a nonviolent felony conviction immediately eligible to register to vote. Kentucky is one of three states, including Florida and Iowa, to impose a lifetime voting ban on people convicted of felonies. (Individuals may still petition for a restoration of their rights, which the governor decides on a case-by-case basis — an arduous, “quasi-monarchical” process.) Mr. Bevin, a Tea Party Republican, said he supports restoring voting rights to those with criminal records, but that it is an issue that should be “addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people,” not the governor’s office.

Kentucky: New governor reverses executive order that restored voting rights for felons | The Washington Post

Kentucky’s new Republican governor has rescinded an executive order that restored voting rights to as many as 140,000 non-violent felons, surprising some observers who had watched him — and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — argue for a more lenient approach to the issue. “While I have been a vocal supporter of the restoration of rights,” Gov. Matt Bevin (R-Ky.) said in announcing the order, “it is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people.” The November election, which Bevin won in an upset, did not really turn on felon voting rights. In Bevin’s view, outgoing Democratic governor Steve Beshear forced the issue, granting a mass restoration after eight years of following the usual, slow, individualized standard for voting rights.