This Thursday, January 21, the Washington House State Government and Tribal Relations committee will vote on HB 1078. If this bill becomes law, voting rights will be restored to all Washington state citizens who have been convicted of a felony as soon as they are released from incarceration. Under current law, voting rights are only restored after the person is released from community supervision and the person has finished meeting any legal financial obligations associated with the conviction.
Information about the bill and a video recording of last week’s committee hearing can be found at the HB 1078 website. Many people testified at the hearing and all were in support of the bill. Here are some of the many reasons for their support:
- The current practice disproportionately impacts people of color. Of the total population currently on community supervision in Washington, 16% are people of color even though people of color only account for 4% of our state’s population.
- Citizens returning from incarceration have many barriers to overcome such as finding employment and housing. Studies have repeatedly shown that reducing barriers to re-entry decreases recidivism. Decreasing recidivism increases public safety. Restoring a person’s right to vote empowers that person to become and remain an active member of society.
- Many other states have recognized the value of restoring voting rights to people convicted of a felony. More than 20 other states allow people on supervision or incarcerated people to vote. Washington is the only state on the West coast who disenfranchises people on community supervision.
- If this bill becomes law, it will be much easier for our county auditors to determine who is eligible to vote. If a person shows up to register, they obviously are not incarcerated and are therefore eligible to vote. Under current law, the auditors must check state records to see if the person is on supervision or has outstanding legal financial obligations to determine if they are eligible.
- Although this was not mentioned during the hearing, our current laws restore voting rights for people convicted of a felony at the federal level as soon as they are released from a federal prison. Some argue that people convicted of a felony at the state level should also have their voting rights restored as soon as they are released from a state prison.
I encourage you to access the bill’s website and leave a comment by 8:00 am Wednesday morning. The committee will vote on Thursday and all comments must be posted at least 24 hours before the vote. In addition, if any of the following committee members are representatives of your district, I encourage you to email them directly with your opinion of this bill.
Javier Valdez (46th), Debra Lekanoff (40th), Mike Volz (6th), Jim Walsh (19th), Laurie Dolan (22nd), Jenny Graham (6th), Mia Gregerson (33rd)
All the best,
Joanne
Family Safety Foundation
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/wavoices.org/d/msgid/community/009801d6edf1%24f0079ba0%24d016d2e0%24%40comcast.net.
Washington HB 1078 information [app.leg.wa.gov]
Willing to bet registrants will be excluded at some point or another.
Can’t do it…have to have a Washington address
I believe that every American should be able to vote ! If they are diagnosed mentally unstable that should be the only exclusion . Just because a person has made an error or bad choices in life should not exclude them .They have paid their time for their mistake !They are Americans and no happen what happens once as far as what position they are in when released (on probation or not ) I believe they should be allowed to vote . When the census is counted everyone is counted so why shouldn’t a persons vote count .
All of you are right on this proposal and yes one should have the right to vote whether a car thief or other. That is a person’s right. Even cleaning ups some of the TV today which I almost never watch. Now I don’t vote because who know’s the many different character structors of som running in elections.
If it was my guess I would much rather have a woman in government than men (sorry guys). It seems women are a bit more understanding in a lot of matters. And yes I’ve had men school teachers and women but its the insight and subject matters that are at many ordeals so one could say teaching or running a government. Its all pressure at times .