Voting Rights and Felons

From the LWV RI Voter, February 2006

            The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed, (LWVUS Position March 1982)

Article II of the RI Constitution says that:

No felon shall be permitted to vote until completion of such felon's sentence, served or suspended, and of parole or probation regardless of a nolo contendere plea. Upon such completion, such person's right to vote shall be restored

            Unfortunately, according to 2003 U.S. Department of Justice statistics, Rhode Island had the second highest percentage of people on probation in the country.

("Probation and Parole in the United States, 2003," available online at:  < www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus03.pdf>)

            Although we could simply believe that Rhode Island is a hotbed of felons, the example of Andres Idarraga highlighted in “State Law Keeps Felon’s Voting Rights in Check,” by Karen Lee Ziner for the Providence Journal, Nov.2, 2004, gives us another explanation. <www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20041102_felon2.4af8b.html or www.ririghttovote.org/news_110204.php>

            According to the above article, Indarraga served six and a half years in the ACI, and then faced four more years of parole AND TWENTY-SEVEN years of probation! Given numbers like these, the large numbers of felons on probation in Rhode Island looks a lot different. Preliminary research done by the Family Life Center indicates that probation sentences for felonies of more than 10 years are not unusual.

            So even if suspending felons’ rights to vote for the duration of their sentences seems within reason at first glance, the reality is much harsher. A Constitutional provision that can remove a person’s right to vote for over thirty years beyond the point when the person could be considered rehabilitated and become a productive member of society should be reconsidered.