Attempts to discourage ex-felons from voting appear to be an outlier among states, even as some Republican-led states continue to restrict voting access in other ways.
Attempts like those to discourage ex-felons from voting appear to be an outlier among the states, even as some Republican-led states continue to restrict voting access in other ways.
“Restoring voting rights really is an issue where we’ve seen bipartisan momentum,” said Patrick Berry, counsel for the Democracy program at the Brennan Center. In Nebraska, nearly 18,000 people are unable to vote because of felony convictions, said the Sentencing Project’s director of advocacy, Nicole Porter. That includes 7,072 who fall under the two-year wait requirement and are currently unable to cast a ballot. The rest have not completed their full sentences.Steve Smith of Civic Nebraska, part of a large coalition of groups supporting the measure, said the wait creates a group of taxpayers who can’t choose their representatives.
He has introduced bills multiple times to do away with the wait period, coming close to success in 2017 when a bill passed the Legislature but was vetoed by then-Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts. Wayne, who represents parts of Omaha with strong minority populations, said reconnecting people to the voting process is integral to successful reentry. His bill advanced this past week from a committee to the full Legislature.
Three of the witnesses with criminal records who spoke in favor of the legislation said in later interviews the waiting period is not a deterrent to future crime, but rather a barrier for those who have served their sentences. Demetrius Gatson is among the more than 10,000 people in Nebraska who has no right to vote because they haven’t completed their sentences. Because of her probation, she will have to wait until 2030 to vote.
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