From the Pen to the Voting Booth

[Laughing Mirror]

Ex-felon votes could be decisive.

By Dr. Ernest Drucker and Dr. Ricardo Barreras, AlterNet. Posted October 28, 2004.

Since the Florida election of 2000 (where 600,000 citizens with criminal convictions were barred from voting), felony disenfranchisement has attracted a lot of attention. Over the last three decades, 12 million Americans have lost the right to vote for all or most of their adult lives. It's no surprise then that many politicians believe that "these people don't vote anyway" – a convenient rational for ignoring them.

But that may be about to change.

While it is true that many with felony convictions are unable to vote, at least four million others in the criminal justice system (or recently released from it) are legally eligible to vote. This includes over 700,000 now in city and county jails; 2.25 million on probation or parole (in states that allow them to vote); and well over a million who have finished their sentences in recent years.

We have been interviewing current and former prisoners in New York, Connecticut and Ohio about their voting histories, attitudes about voting, and knowledge and understanding of the rules of disenfranchisement that apply to them. We find that prior to disenfranchisement they registered and voted at rates similar to the general population (40 to 50 percent) and most would like to do so again.

(emphasis mine)

http://www.alternet.org/rights/20333/