In the United States, convicted felons can be stripped of their civil rights in order to help discourage them from committing other crimes. The most common civil rights taken away from a convicted felon is their right to vote, bear arms and hold office. Each state is different on how they take their rights away and what they have to do to get them back. Each state will provide specific rules which will describe what privileges have been lost once they were found guilty. Some states permanently deny them their right to vote and some restore voting privileges if they petition the court or get a pardon from the state’s governor. In some states some felons get their right to vote back once they have met all the requirements of their sentence. In Maryland and Vermont, convicts never lose their voting rights and can cast absentee ballots from prison. Florida is one of four states that permanently deny felons their right to vote until they have been restored by the governor or a clemency board. The others are Virginia, Kentucky and Iowa. The Sentencing Project, a criminal justice advocacy group, 5.3 million Americans (1 in 40 adults) were unable to vote due to a felony conviction in the 2008 elections. This included 1.4 million African-American men, more than 676,000 women, and 2.1 million ex-offenders who have completed their sentences. Most recent state legislation has started to expand felon’s voting rights and ease the process of restoration. Between 1996 and 2008, 28 states passed new laws on felon voting rights.
Seven repealed lifetime disenfranchisement laws, at least for some ex-offenders.
Two gave probationers the right to vote.
Seven improved data-sharing procedures among state agencies.
Nine passed requirements that ex-offenders be given information and/or assistance in regaining their voting rights at the time they complete their sentence.
Twelve simplified the process for regaining voting rights, for instance, by eliminating a waiting period or streamlining the paperwork process.
It seems that most states are starting to be more forgiving by trying to make things easier for people and make them understand that if they break the rules there are consequences and losing voting rights is one of them.
In Arizona a convicted felon will lose their rights to vote in state and federal elections if they have been convicted of more than one felony. In Arizona on their first conviction their rights are automatically restored once they have met all the court requirements to include parole and the payment of all their fines. If they have numerous felony convictions and served time in a correctional facility, they must wait two years from the date they obtain a discharge to be eligible to restore their rights. If they have numerous felony charges they have to file a separate charge for each felony count for which they were convicted. If they have felony charges but never served in prison, they do not have to wait the two years and their rights can be restored by the court that released them from probation. If they have multiple felonies in different counties, then to restore their rights they have to file separately with that county. When a person has been released from prison or probation it is an Arizona law that they have to be notified of the procedures to restore their rights.
The one problem I see is there is not any consistency from state to state. Some states make it easier for felons to get their rights back and in some states they might never get their rights back. If all the states could come together, it would be difficult for people to say there is discrimination in certain races. I also believe there are some states, like Arizona, that make it too easy for them to get their rights back. Wait two years, pay all your fines and submit the paperwork and it’s done. If they committed a crime, make them understand that they had their shot to do it the right way now they are going to
