Felony disenfranchisement
Felony disenfranchisement is excluding people otherwise eligible to vote from voting (known as disfranchisement) due to conviction of a criminal offence, usually restricted to the more serious class of crimes, felonies. Jurisdictions vary in whether they make such disfranchisement permanent, or restore suffrage after a person has served a sentence, or completed parole or probation.[1] Affected individuals suffer "collateral consequences"[2] including loss of access to jobs, housing, and other facilities.[2]
Opponents have argued that this disfranchisement restricts and conflicts with principles of universal suffrage.[3] This can affect civic and communal participation in general.[1]
History
In Western countries, felony disfranchisement can be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman traditions: disfranchisement was commonly imposed as part of the punishment on those convicted of "infamous" crimes as part of their "civil death", whereby these persons would lose all rights and claim to property. Most medieval common law jurisdictions developed punishments that provided for some form of exclusion from the community for felons, ranging from execution on sight to exclusion from community processes.[4]
Contemporary practice by country
United States
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The United States is among the strictest nations in the world when it comes to denying the vote to those who have felony convictions on their record.[5]
In the US, the constitution implicitly permits the states to adopt rules about disenfranchisement "for participation in rebellion, or other crime", by the fourteenth amendment, section 2. It is up to the states to decide which crimes could be ground for disenfranchisement, and they are not formally bound to restrict this to felonies; however, in most cases, they do.
As of 2008 over 5.3 million people in the United States were denied the right to vote because of felony disenfranchisement.[6] Approximately thirteen percent of the United States' population is African American, yet African Americans make up thirty-eight percent of the American prison population.[2] Slightly more than fifteen percent of the United States population is Hispanic, while twenty percent of the prison population is Hispanic.[2] People who are felons are disproportionately people of color.[1][2] In the United States, felony disenfranchisement laws disproportionately affect communities of color as "they are disproportionately arrested, convicted, and subsequently denied the right to vote".[1] Research has shown that as much as 10 percent of the population in some minority communities in the USA is unable to vote, as a result of felon disenfranchisement.[1]
In the national elections 2012, all the various state felony disenfranchisement laws added together blocked an estimated 5.85 million felons from voting, up from 1.2 million in 1976. This comprised 2.5% of the potential voters in general; and included 8% of the potential African American voters. The state with the highest amount of disenfranchised people was Florida, with 1.5 million disenfranchised, including more than a fifth of potential African American voters.[5]
Felony disenfranchisement was a topic of debate during the 2012 Republican presidential primary. Rick Santorum argued for the restoration of voting rights for convicted felons.[7] Santorum's position was attacked and distorted by Mitt Romney, who alleged that Santorum supported voting rights for felons while incarcerated rather than Santorum's stated position of restoring voting rights only after the completion of sentence, probation and parole.[7][8] President Barack Obama supports voting rights for ex-offenders.[9]
In the years 1997 to 2008, there was a trend to lift the disenfranchisement restrictions, or simplify the procedures for applying for the restoration of civil rights for people who had fulfilled their punishments for felonies; and as a consequence, in 2008, more than a half million people had the right to vote, but would have been disenfranchised under the older rules.[10] As of 2010, only Kentucky and Virginia continued to impose a lifelong denial of the right to vote to all citizens with a felony record, absent some extraordinary intervention by the Governor or state legislature. However, in Kentucky, a felon's rights can be restored after the completion of a restoration process to regain civil rights.[10] Since then, more severe disenfranchisement rules have come into effect in several states.
In 2007 Florida moved to restore voting rights to convicted felons. In March 2011, however, Governor Rick Scott reversed the 2007 reforms.[11] In July 2005, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack issued an executive order restoring the right to vote for all persons who have completed supervision.[10] On October 31, 2005, Iowa's Supreme Court upheld mass re-enfranchisement of convicted felons. However, on his inauguration day, January 14, 2011, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad reversed Vilsack's executive order.[12] Nine other states disenfranchise felons for various lengths of time following their conviction. Except for Maine and Vermont, every state prohibits felons from voting while in prison.[10]
Constitutionality
Unlike most laws that burden the right of citizens to vote based on some form of social status, felony disenfranchisement laws have been held to be constitutional. In Richardson v. Ramirez (1974), the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of felon disenfranchisement statutes, finding that the practice did not deny equal protection to disenfranchised voters. The Court looked to Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which proclaims that States which deny the vote to male citizens, except on the basis of "participation of rebellion, or other crime", will suffer a reduction in representation. Based on this language, the Court found that this amounted to an "affirmative sanction" of the practice of felon disenfranchisement, and the 14th Amendment could not prohibit in one section that which is expressly authorized in another.
But, critics of the practice argue that Section 2 of the 14th Amendment allows, but does not represent an endorsement of, felony disenfranchisement statutes as constitutional in light of the equal protection clause and is limited only to the issue of reduced representation. The Court ruled in Hunter v. Underwood 471 U.S. 222, 232 (1985) that a state's crime disenfranchisement provision will violate Equal Protection if it can be demonstrated that the provision, as enacted, had "both [an] impermissible racial motivation and racially discriminatory impact." (The law in question also disenfranchised people convicted of vagrancy, adultery, and any misdemeanor "involving moral turpitude"; the test case involved two individuals who faced disenfranchisement for presenting invalid checks, which the state authorities had found to be morally turpit behavior.) A felony disenfranchisement law, which on its face is indiscriminate in nature, cannot be invalidated by the Supreme Court unless its enforcement is proven to racially discriminate and to have been enacted with racially discriminatory animus.[citation needed]
Classifications
Restoration of voting rights for people who are ex-offenders varies across the United States. Primary classification of voting rights include:
Unrestricted
Maine[13] and Vermont[14] are the only states with unrestricted voting rights for people who are felons. Both states allow the person to vote during incarceration, via absentee ballot and after terms of conviction end.
Ends after release
In thirteen states and the District of Columbia, disenfranchisement ends after incarceration is complete: District of Columbia,[15] Hawaii,[16] Illinois,[17] Indiana,[18] Massachusetts[19] Michigan,[20] Montana,[21] New Hampshire,[22] North Dakota,[23] Ohio[24] Oregon,[25] Pennsylvania,[26] Rhode Island,[27] Utah.[28]
Ends after parole
In four states, disenfranchisement ends after incarceration and parole (if any) is complete: California,[29] Colorado,[30] Connecticut,[31] New York.[32]
Ends after probation
Twenty states require not only that incarceration/parole if any are complete but also that any probation sentence (which is often an alternative to incarceration) is complete: Alaska,[33] Arkansas,[34] Georgia,[35] Idaho,[36] Kansas,[37] Louisiana,[38] Maryland,[39] Minnesota,[40] Missouri,[41] Nebraska (Completion of probation + 2 years; treason convicts permanently lose the right to vote),[42] New Jersey,[43] New Mexico,[44] North Carolina,[45] Oklahoma,[46] South Carolina,[47] South Dakota,[48] Texas,[49] Washington,[50] West Virginia (The prosecutor can request the court to revoke voting rights if financial obligations are unmet), Wisconsin.[51]
Circumstantial
Eight states have laws that vary with the detail of the crime. These laws restore voting rights to some offenders on the completion of incarceration, parole, and probation. Other offenders must make an individual petition that could be denied.
- Alabama – A person convicted of a felony loses the ability to vote if the felony involves moral turpitude. The state Attorney General and courts have decided this for individual crimes. If a convicted person loses the ability to vote, he can petition to have it restored by a pardon or by a certificate of eligibility.[52][53][54][55] A certificate of eligibility cannot be issued to a person convicted of a number of crimes having to do with sexual assault or abuse, including sodomy.[56]
- Arizona – Rights are restored to first-time felony offenders. Others must petition.[57][58]
- Delaware – Depending on the crime, a convicted felon either regains the right to vote after completion of their sentence or cannot regain the right to vote except through a pardon.[59][60]
- Mississippi – A convicted person loses suffrage for numerous crimes identified in the state constitution, Section 241 (see note). The list is given below. Suffrage can be restored to an individual by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature. The crimes that disqualify a person from voting are given in Section 241 of the state constitution as:[61]
- Nevada- First time and non-violent offenders all others may, "petition a court of competent jurisdiction for an order granting the restoration of his or her civil rights"[62]
- Tennessee – A person who is convicted of certain felonies may not regain voting rights except through pardon. These include: murder, rape, treason, and voting fraud. For a person convicted of a lesser felony, disenfranchisement ends after terms of incarceration, completion of parole, and completion of probation. In addition, the person must pay "Any court order restitution paid; current in the payment of any child support obligations; and/or Any court ordered court costs paid". The ex-offender must either obtain a court order restoring their right to vote or complete the certificate of restoration of voting rights.[63]
- Virginia – As of May 29, 2013, it is a policy of the governor that a person convicted of a non-violent felony regains voting rights after the end of incarceration, parole, and probation. On June 30, 2014, Virginia Governor Terry MacAuffile officially removed application requirements for non-violent felons.[64] Offenders with "violent/more serious" felonies must appeal to the governor five years after the end of completing the sentence. Before appealing, they must satisfy several conditions:
- "Free from any sentence served or supervised probation and parole for a minimum of two years for a non-violent offense or five years for a violent felony or drug distribution, drug manufacturing offense, any crimes against a minor, or an election law offense."
- "Has paid all court costs, fines, penalties and restitution and have no felony or misdemeanor charges pending; not have had a DWI in the five years immediately preceding the application."
- Not have any misdemeanor convictions and/or pending criminal charges 2 years preceding the application for non-violent felonies or five years for a violent felony or drug distribution, drug manufacturing offense, any crimes against a minor, or an election law offense."[65]
- Wyoming – A person convicted of a felony can, after serving the full sentence including any probation and parole, apply to the state governor to have suffrage restored. Since July 1, 2003, first-time, non-violent offenders have to wait five years before applying to the state parole board for restoration of suffrage. The parole board has the discretion to decide whether to reinstate rights on an individual basis.[66][67]
Individual petitions required
Three states require individual petition for all offenses.
- Florida – Voting rights are restored by the Florida Board of Executive Clemency. Less serious crimes do not require a hearing with the clemency board. In those cases, disenfranchisement ends after it has been five years after completion of terms of incarceration, completion of parole and completion of probation. An application must be submitted to the court. For those with serious crimes, after seven years, the Florida Executive Clemency Board will decide whether or not to restore voting rights after receiving an application from the ex-offender.[68][69]
- Iowa[70][71]
- Kentucky – Only the governor can reinstate Civil Rights. The ex-offender must complete "Application for Restoration of Civil Rights". Then it is at the governor's discretion to restore voting rights.[72][73]
Felony conviction thresholds affected by inflation
Various property crimes can have absolute dollar amount thresholds. For example, in Massachusetts under penalties specified in MGL Chap. 266: Sec. 127,[74] a prosecution for malicious destruction of property can result in a felony conviction if the dollar amount of damage exceeds $250.[75]
Europe
In general, the European countries have increasingly made suffrage more and more accessible during the recent centuries. This has included retaining disenfranchisement in fewer and fewer cases, including for criminal offenses. Moreover, most European states, including most of those outside the European Union, have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, and thereby agreed to respect the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, which in its ruling in the case Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2) in 2005 found general rules for automatic disenfranchisements as a consequence of convictions to be against human rights. This ruling applied equally for prisoners and for ex-convicts. The ruling did not exclude the possibility of disenfranchisement as a consequence of deliberation in individual cases (such as that of Mohammed Bouyeri). However, the court decision has not been implemented in the United Kingdom (see below).
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, prohibitions from voting are codified in section 3 and 3A of the Representation of the People Act 1983.[76] Excluded are incarcerated criminals[77] (including those sentenced by courts-martial, those unlawfully at large from such sentences, and those committed to psychiatric institutions as a result of a criminal court sentencing process). Civil prisoners sentenced (for non-payment of fines, or contempt of court, for example), and those on remand unsentenced retain the right to vote.
The UK is subject to Europe-wide rules due to various treaties and agreements associated with its membership of the European Community. The Act does not apply to elections to the European Parliament. Following Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2) (2006),[78] in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled such a ban to be disproportionate, the policy was reviewed by the UK government. In 2005 the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, stated that it may result in some prisoners being able to vote,[79] and the review was still under way in 2010 following an "unprecedented warning" from the Council of Europe.[80] The UK government position was then that
"It remains the government's view that the right to vote goes to the essence of the offender's relationship with democratic society, and the removal of the right to vote in the case of some convicted prisoners can be a proportionate and proper response following conviction and imprisonment. The issue of voting rights for prisoners is one that the government takes very seriously and that remains under careful consideration."[80]
Parliament voted in favor of maintaining disenfranchisement of prisoners in 2011 in response to Government plans to introduce legislation. Since then the Government has repeatedly stated that prisoners will not be given the right to vote in spite of the ECHR ruling.[81]
In response to the ECHR ruling, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Chris Grayling produced a draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill for discussion by a Joint Committee, incorporating two clear options for reform and one which would retain the blanket ban.
Ireland
For elections in the Republic of Ireland, there is no disenfranchisement based on criminal conviction, and prisoners remain on the electoral register at their pre-imprisonment address.[82] Prior to 2006, the grounds for postal voting did not include imprisonment, and hence those in prison on election day were in practice unable to vote, although those on temporary release could do so.[83][84] In 2000 the High Court ruled that this breached the Constitution, and the government drafted a bill extending postal voting to prisoners on remand or serving sentences of less than six months.[85] However, in 2001, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court ruling and the bill was withdrawn.[85][86] After the 2005 ECHR ruling in the Hirst case, the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2006 was passed to allow postal voting by all prisoners.[82][83][87]
Italy
In Italy, the most serious offenses involve the loss of voting rights, while for less serious offenses disqualification the judge can choose if there will be some disenfranchisement. Recently, however, the ‘decree Severino’ added a loss of only the right to stand for an election, against some offenders above a certain threshold of imprisonment: it operates administratively, with fixed duration and without intervention of the court. Many court actions have been presented, but the electoral disputes follows antiquated rules and the danger of causes seamless in terms of eligibility[88] and incompatibility[89] is very high, also at local level.[90]
Other European countries
Several European countries permit disenfranchisement by special court order, including France, Germany (reinstated after 2–5 years) and the Netherlands (such as in the case of Muhammad Bouyeri). In several others, no disenfranchisements due to criminal convictions exist. Moreover, many European countries encourage people to vote, such as by making pre-voting in other places than the respective election locales easily accessible. This often includes possibilities for prisoners to pre-vote from the prison itself.
In Germany the law even calls on prisons to encourage prisoners to vote. Only those convicted of electoral fraud and crimes undermining the "democratic order", such as treason, are barred from voting while in prison.[91]
In Sweden, sometimes, parliamentary parties have held campaign meetings in prisons.
Australia
At Federation in Australia the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 denied the franchise to vote to anyone 'attainted of treason, or who had been convicted and is under sentence or subject to be sentenced for any offence … punishable by imprisonment for one year or longer’.[92]
In 1983 this disqualification was relaxed and prisoners serving a sentence for a crime punishable under the law for less than a maximum five years were allowed to vote.[93] A further softening occurred in 1995 when the disenfranchisement was limited to those serving a sentence of five years or longer,[92][93] although earlier that year the Keating Government had been planning legislation to extend voting rights to all prisoners.[94] It should be noted that disenfrancishement does not continue after release from jail/prison.[95]
In 2007, the High Court of Australia in Roach v Electoral Commissioner found that the Constitution enshrined a limited right to vote,[96] which meant that citizens serving relatively short prison sentences (generally less than three years) cannot be barred from voting.[97][98]
Other countries
Most democracies give convicted criminals the same voting rights as other citizens.
In both China and Taiwan, the abrogation of political rights is a form of punishment used in sentencing, available only for some crimes or along with a sentence of death or imprisonment for life. Rights that are suspended in such a sentence include the right to vote and to take public office, as well as the rights to political expression, assembly, association, and protest. In New Zealand, people who are in prison are not entitled to enroll while they are in prison.<Elections NZ website>
Many countries allow inmates to vote. Examples include Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, and Zimbabwe.
On 8 December 2008, Leung Kwok Hung (Long Hair), member of Hong Kong's popularly-elected Legislative Council (LegCo), and two prison inmates, successfully challenged disenfranchisement provisions in the LegCo electoral laws. The court found blanket disenfranchisement of prisoners to be in violation of Article 26 of the Basic Law and Article 21 of the Bill of Rights and the denial to persons in custody of access to polling stations as against the law. The government introduced a bill to repeal the provisions of the law disenfranchising persons convicted of crimes (even those against the electoral system) as well as similar ones found in other electoral laws, and it made arrangements for polling stations to be set up at detention centers and prisons. LegCo passed the bill, and it took effect from 31 October 2009, even though no major elections were held until the middle of 2011.
See also
- Disfranchisement
- Hirst v. the United Kingdom (No. 2)
- Universal suffrage
- Loss of rights due to felony conviction
- Transgender disenfranchisement in the United States
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- ^ Template:It [Il condannato? Siede in Parlamento. Storia di un corto circuito normativo Diritto e giustizia, 22 aprile 2006 Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)]; Template:It [La Consulta striglia la Regione Abruzzo. Giurisdizione domestica nel mirino condannato? Diritto e giustizia, 25 marzo 2006 Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)].
- ^ Template:It [Candidature, norme ormai anacronistiche. L’incompatibilità è uno status da rivedere Diritto e giustizia, 16 aprile 2005 Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)].
- ^ Template:It [Enti locali: le incompatibilità di Sicilia. Comune o Regione, così scatta l’aut aut Diritto e giustizia, 28 gennaio 2006 Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)].
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- ^ "Prisoners". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
- ^ Pearlman, Jonathan (31 August 2007). "Court gives vote back to some inmates". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 24 August 2008.
- ^ The right to vote is not enjoyed equally by all Australians: 4. Recent changes to the Electoral Laws in Australia, Australian Human Rights Commission, archived from the original on 14 August 2014
- ^ Vicki Lee Roach v Electoral Commissioner and Commonwealth of Australia, 30 August 2007, High Court of Australia.
Bowers M, Preuhs R. Collateral Consequences of a Collateral Penalty: The Negative Effect of Felon Disenfranchisement Laws on the Political Participation of Nonfelons. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited) [serial online]. September 2009;90(3):722–743.
Goldman, D. S. (2004). The Modern-Day Literacy Test?: Felon Disenfranchisement and Race Discrimination. Stanford Law Review, (2), 611.
Hinchcliff, A. M. (2011). The "Other" Side of Richardson v. Ramirez: A Textual Challenge to Felon Disenfranchisement. Yale Law Journal, 121(1), 194–236.
Manza, J., Brooks, C., & Uggen, C. (2004). Public Attitudes toward Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States. The Public Opinion Quarterly, (2), 275.
Miles, T. J. (2004). Felon Disenfranchisement and Voter Turnout. The Journal Of Legal Studies, (1), 85.
Miller, B., & Spillane, J. (n.d). Civil death: An examination of ex-felon disenfranchisement and reintegration. Punishment & Society-International Journal Of Penology, 14(4), 402–428.
Siegel, J. A. (2011). Felon Disenfranchisement and the Fight for Universal Suffrage. Social Work, 56(1), 89–91.
External links
- State-by-state overview for the United States by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- The Sentencing Project page on Felony Disenfranchisement
- Gabriel J. Chin, Reconstruction, Felon Disenfranchisement and the Right to Vote: Did the Fifteenth Amendment Repeal Section 2 of the Fourteenth?, 92 Georgetown Law Journal 259 (2004)
- Wood, Erika (2008). "Restoring the Right to Vote" (PDF). The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU.
- Felony Disenfranchisement in the United States Overview
- Historical Timeline US History of Felon Voting/Disenfranchisement