When does a society say that a convicted felon who has fully served his or her time can now exercise the fundamental and cherished right to choose that society’s leader?
A senator posed this question as lawmakers deliberated on a proposal that would allow felons who have completed their sentences and probation to vote again without undergoing the rigorous process of regaining rights.
The bill, S1623, was approved 16-12 on March 8.
The bill, in fact, deals with ballot counting procedures and creates penalties for unlawfully releasing election information and interfering with election results.
But an amendment by its author, Sen. Karen Johnson, R-18, would automatically restore the right to vote to a felon who has fully served his or her time, unless the conviction had something to do with electoral fraud.
A similar measure proposed by Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor, D-16, was not heard in committee.
S1623 was scheduled for a third reading as of press time. If approved, it would go to House for further action.
Johnson thought the idea had a lot of merit. Besides, many other states have moved or are moving in this direction, she added.
Studies have shown that increased civil participation of former convicts decreases recidivism, according to supporters.
“Anything that would do that and move towards that I believe is a good thing to do,” Johnson said.
“When somebody has been convicted and they have paid the full price, they have served their time, they have served their probation, they’re off probation now, everything has been done, I believe they should be restored their voting rights,” she told colleagues.
But critics pointed out that a mechanism is already in place for the restoration of lost rights.
Sen. Jack Harper, R-4, said the amendment is a huge departure from current policy.
“This is similar to a bill being pushed by U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton,” he said, adding there must be some kind of petition — not automatic restoration — before the right to vote is given back.
Landrum Taylor argued that this only applies to felons who have served their time and deemed safe to rejoin society.
“Individuals who have had the opportunity to regain their right to vote are less likely to be re-arrested and to re-offend,” she said. “That’s the direction we should be taking.”
Sen. Robert Blendu, R-12, opposed the amendment.
“The reason we don’t need this amendment is we already have a process to restore those rights to vote… where you actually have to demonstrate in real life that you actually did change your behavior, you actually did go out to become a productive citizen,” he said.
“I believe in punishment. I also believe in redemption but I believe that redemption, part of redemption, is demonstrating that there has been a change,” he added.
Lawmaker has list of many who still can’t vote
Landrum Taylor provided the Arizona Capitol Times with a short list of individuals who were incarcerated a long time ago, had gotten out of jail and had successfully rejoined society, but who still cannot vote.
They include a 59-year old grandmother who was last jailed on drug charges in 1985. She now works full time for a women’s shelter and studies at the Arizona State University, where she is set to graduate with a degree in social work. She still cannot vote.
“The bottom line is, if our judicial system feels comfortable enough to say they have done what they needed to do, then are we trusting our judicial system on that? And so on that point, how far do we go once that they have done everything, when they haven’t re-offended, when do we finally say, ‘Let this people go ahead and vote’?” Landrum Taylor said.
Landrum Taylor and Johnson worked closely together on the subject.
Landrum Taylor first offered the idea as an amendment to the Johnson bill in committee, where it was defeated.
“So when it came time for the bill to go the floor, she asked that I offer that amendment on the floor and I was agreeable to doing that. And that’s what we did,” Johnson said. “I thought it was a fair amendment. After you have served totally your time, you have served all your probation, you have paid back all your restitution, I do not see a problem with getting your voting rights back.”
In at least 10 states, former convicts automatically and permanently lose their right to take part in elections, except of those pardoned in some instances, according to an article from the Web magazine Slate.
The American Civil Liberties Union reported that U.S. disfranchisement policies bar some 5 million people, many of whom already served their sentences, from the polls.
“This nation that prides itself on free and fair elections and voting shuts out more citizens from the democratic process than any other nation in the world,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a preface to a study on felony disfranchisement.
“Our disfranchisement policies also disproportionately affect African Americans and other minorities,” he added.
Last month, Landrum Taylor told the Arizona Capitol Times that her voting rights bill did not touch on other rights lost upon conviction, such as the right to bear arms — just the right to vote.
“I’ve run into too many people that are really upstanding citizens now and after 20 years, they have not been able to successfully, through the court proceedings necessary… get (their) rights back,” she had said, adding that the process is arduous and that many people simply cannot afford to hire lawyers to regain lost rights.
“They said this is all it took for them, and they feel like they’re a real human being now,” she said. “And when you have an individual feeling like that, maybe that individual won’t do harm or crime in the future.”