R MacDonald
09-27-2004, 07:26 AM
Study Finds Felon Vote Ban Affecting Black Voting Strength (http://www.wsbtv.com/news/3753845/detail.html)
ATLANTA -- Georgia's voting ban for convicted felons on probation or parole dilutes black voting strength in the state because so many black males are in the correctional system, a new study says.
Democratic Reps. Bob Holmes and Tyrone Brooks announced Wednesday that they would sponsor a bill during the next legislative session to lift the ban, citing the study released by the Washington, D.C.-based Sentencing Project that shows one in eight black males in Georgia are in the correctional system.
Convicted felons who are out of prison but still on probation or parole can't vote, even though most work and pay taxes.
"This is a clear case of taxation without representation," Holmes said.
Holmes, Brooks and civil rights leader Joseph Lowery gathered in front of the State Capitol on Wednesday to mark the release of the Sentencing Project study, which looked at the disenfranchisement of Georgia's convicted felons.
[color=red]According to the study, one in eight black males in the state can't vote because they've been convicted of a felony, compared to one in 18 for non-black males. In Atlanta, the rate is one in seven for black males, compared to one in 20 for non-black males.[/color]
The majority of black men in the state prison system were convicted of violating drug laws, Brooks said.
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia currently allow probationers and parolees to vote, while others deprive felons of their voting rights for life. Under Georgia law, voting rights are automatically restored to felons after they complete their full sentences.
Brooks said the proposed legislation will be the first attempt in Georgia to lift the voting ban for convicted felons on probation or parole. If it passed, this state would be the first in the South to allow probationers and parolees to vote.
[color=red]"It's long overdue," he said. "You shouldn't ever lose your right to vote until you die and go to heaven."[/color]
http://www.thetowntalk.com/images/photos/200409232256322.jpg
Voting behind bars (http://www.thetowntalk.com/html/E6B4BBC6-81FB-4B16-9FC2-FCB4E336D9D4.shtml)
Never mind that Alexandria lawyer Gary Proctor cannot vote in the Nov. 2 election.
[color=red]The citizen of Ireland spent Thursday afternoon working to bring voting rights to an underrepresented population: inmates at the jail. [/color]
Proctor heard about the success former convict Norris Henderson had registering inmates in Orleans Parish and wanted to see a similar effort in Rapides Parish.
[color=red]"I don't have any interest other than I think it would be great for people in the jail to be able to participate in the democratic process," Proctor said. [/color]
That became more likely Thursday for 92 Rapides Parish Jail inmates - about 20 to 30 more than Proctor expected to see Henderson and other volunteers register.
For three hours, orange-clad inmates came through a classroom at the jail in groups of about 20.
There they listened to the life stories of Henderson and fellow volunteer Randy Tucker before receiving help filling out the paperwork needed to vote and get an absentee ballot.
Henderson spent 27 years, 10 months and 18 days in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on a murder conviction. In prison, he learned the voter eligibility requirements for offenders.
When he got out last year, he joined with other former inmates to form Voice of the Ex-Offender, acronym VOTE.
The organization registered more than 700 voters in the Orleans Parish Prison.
Henderson said his goal is to "wake up a sleeping giant" by making prisoners aware of their voting rights.
Too many, he said, have fallen prey to the myth that inmates and convicts cannot vote.
Tucker, who last year got out of prison after 25 years, explained how it works.
Inmates still awaiting trial can vote as well as those who have completed serving felony sentences, he said. Also those serving sentences for only misdemeanor crimes are also eligible, he said.
Henderson noted that hundreds of thousands of former inmates might not realize that Louisiana law now lets them vote.
"The problem is nobody has told us we are in the loop," he said.
His organization wants to spread the message and encourage inmates and former inmates to go to the polls.
"I don't know what's worse: People who couldn't vote, or people who could, but wouldn't," Henderson said.
********************
[color=red]The citizen of Ireland spent Thursday afternoon working to bring voting rights to an underrepresented population: inmates at the jail. [/color]
[color=red]"I don't have any interest other than I think it would be great for people in the jail to be able to participate in the democratic process," Proctor said. [/color]
ATLANTA -- Georgia's voting ban for convicted felons on probation or parole dilutes black voting strength in the state because so many black males are in the correctional system, a new study says.
Democratic Reps. Bob Holmes and Tyrone Brooks announced Wednesday that they would sponsor a bill during the next legislative session to lift the ban, citing the study released by the Washington, D.C.-based Sentencing Project that shows one in eight black males in Georgia are in the correctional system.
Convicted felons who are out of prison but still on probation or parole can't vote, even though most work and pay taxes.
"This is a clear case of taxation without representation," Holmes said.
Holmes, Brooks and civil rights leader Joseph Lowery gathered in front of the State Capitol on Wednesday to mark the release of the Sentencing Project study, which looked at the disenfranchisement of Georgia's convicted felons.
[color=red]According to the study, one in eight black males in the state can't vote because they've been convicted of a felony, compared to one in 18 for non-black males. In Atlanta, the rate is one in seven for black males, compared to one in 20 for non-black males.[/color]
The majority of black men in the state prison system were convicted of violating drug laws, Brooks said.
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia currently allow probationers and parolees to vote, while others deprive felons of their voting rights for life. Under Georgia law, voting rights are automatically restored to felons after they complete their full sentences.
Brooks said the proposed legislation will be the first attempt in Georgia to lift the voting ban for convicted felons on probation or parole. If it passed, this state would be the first in the South to allow probationers and parolees to vote.
[color=red]"It's long overdue," he said. "You shouldn't ever lose your right to vote until you die and go to heaven."[/color]
http://www.thetowntalk.com/images/photos/200409232256322.jpg
Voting behind bars (http://www.thetowntalk.com/html/E6B4BBC6-81FB-4B16-9FC2-FCB4E336D9D4.shtml)
Never mind that Alexandria lawyer Gary Proctor cannot vote in the Nov. 2 election.
[color=red]The citizen of Ireland spent Thursday afternoon working to bring voting rights to an underrepresented population: inmates at the jail. [/color]
Proctor heard about the success former convict Norris Henderson had registering inmates in Orleans Parish and wanted to see a similar effort in Rapides Parish.
[color=red]"I don't have any interest other than I think it would be great for people in the jail to be able to participate in the democratic process," Proctor said. [/color]
That became more likely Thursday for 92 Rapides Parish Jail inmates - about 20 to 30 more than Proctor expected to see Henderson and other volunteers register.
For three hours, orange-clad inmates came through a classroom at the jail in groups of about 20.
There they listened to the life stories of Henderson and fellow volunteer Randy Tucker before receiving help filling out the paperwork needed to vote and get an absentee ballot.
Henderson spent 27 years, 10 months and 18 days in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on a murder conviction. In prison, he learned the voter eligibility requirements for offenders.
When he got out last year, he joined with other former inmates to form Voice of the Ex-Offender, acronym VOTE.
The organization registered more than 700 voters in the Orleans Parish Prison.
Henderson said his goal is to "wake up a sleeping giant" by making prisoners aware of their voting rights.
Too many, he said, have fallen prey to the myth that inmates and convicts cannot vote.
Tucker, who last year got out of prison after 25 years, explained how it works.
Inmates still awaiting trial can vote as well as those who have completed serving felony sentences, he said. Also those serving sentences for only misdemeanor crimes are also eligible, he said.
Henderson noted that hundreds of thousands of former inmates might not realize that Louisiana law now lets them vote.
"The problem is nobody has told us we are in the loop," he said.
His organization wants to spread the message and encourage inmates and former inmates to go to the polls.
"I don't know what's worse: People who couldn't vote, or people who could, but wouldn't," Henderson said.
********************
[color=red]The citizen of Ireland spent Thursday afternoon working to bring voting rights to an underrepresented population: inmates at the jail. [/color]
[color=red]"I don't have any interest other than I think it would be great for people in the jail to be able to participate in the democratic process," Proctor said. [/color]