New York passes bill to automatically restore voting rights to individuals on parole
Source: NBC News
A measure that would restore the voting rights of people on parole was delivered Thursday to the desk of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The bill, passed earlier this year by the state Senate, was approved by the state Assembly on Wednesday. Both chambers have a Democratic majority. The legislation essentially codifies an executive order signed by Cuomo in 2018 that grants conditional pardons to every parolee in the state — an estimated 35,000 — and restores their voting rights.
If signed, the new law would eliminate the conditional pardon application process and give people on parole the right to vote immediately upon their release from prison. Up to now, anyone convicted of a felony and on parole or probation could not vote unless the right was explicitly restored by the government. Supporters say many formerly incarcerated people don’t register to vote after completing parole because they believe they are ineligible. The bill now requires people on parole to be notified of their right to vote.
"Parole disenfranchisement was designed to prevent Black men from voting. We see the legacy of these laws in the largely Black and Latinx parolee population today," state assemblyman Danny O’Donnell, a Democrat, said in a tweet after its passage. "We are one step closer to dismantling the vestiges of segregation-era felony disenfranchisement in NY."
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/new-york-passes-bill-to-automatically-restore-voting-rights-to-individuals-on-parole/ar-BB1fWYAi?li=BB141NW3&ocid=DELLDHP
= new reply since forum marked as read
