Relates to voting and registration for voting by convicted felons

3 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Liz Krueger
• Velmanette Montgomery

Title of bill

An act to amend the election law and the executive law, in relation to voting by convicted felons

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill would restore voting rights to parolees, to facilitate community reintegration and participation in the civic process, rather than requiring a parolee to wait until he or she has been discharged from parole or reached the maximum expiration date of the sentence.

Summary of specific provisions

Section one of the bill amends subdivision two of section 5-106 of the Election Law to restore voting rights to individuals who have been released to community supervision from New York state sentences imposed as a result of New York felony convictions. Election Law §5-106(2) bars a person convicted of a New York felony from voting or registering to vote, and also, as currently drafted, restores voting rights when the person is either discharged from parole or reaches the maximum expiration date of his or her sentence. This bill would restore voting rights while the person is serving the community supervision portion of the sentence, so that he or she can exercise the civic responsibility of voting. Sections two and three of the bill make similar changes to subdivisions three and four of EL§5-1 06, which deal respectively with federal felony convictions and felony convictions in other states.

Section 4 of the bill requires the Division of Parole to make voter registration forms available to parolees.

Section 5 of the bill is the effective date.

Justification

Under current law, a felony conviction imposes a variety of disabilities, including a bar to voting, and the voting bar may be removed only by discharge from, or completion of, the sentence as provided in the Election Law, or by issuance of a certificate of relief from disabilities or a certificate of good conduct under Article 23 of the Correction Law. Certificates of relief and good conduct may be issued to relieve eligible offenders of a variety of different disabilities, and may be specifically limited to one or more enumerated forfeiture, disability or bar. See Correction Law §§701(1), 703-a(1). However, these certificates are not issued automatically, even for the limited purpose of restoring voting rights, and some releasees supervised by the Division of Parole may not be eligible for certificates of good conduct until they meet statutory waiting periods. Thus, many, if not most, releasees cannot vote until after their periods of community supervision are over.

Parole is meant to help prevent recidivism and to rehabilitate and reinitiate a felon back into society. This rehabilitation is built on the offender's recognition of fault, taking responsibility for his or her behavior, and his or her effort to change. Preventing releasees from voting, and from exercising a constitutional right and a civic responsibility, is a barrier to full reintegration into society. It also continues to punish people who have already served the incarcerative parts of their sentences, and that part of their debt to society.

Prior legislative history

A9706 (2008)

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately, except that section 4 shall take effect 120 days after becoming law, to give the Division of Parole time to implement section 4.