Prior to the Crystal Mason case, another voter was imprisoned for voting while on parole; now we have this voter.
when Crystal went to vote, she was not on the registry. The Election Judge offered a provisional ballot, which Crystal would have to "cure" within 7 days.
We are told in our training that we never tell a voter they can't vote, yet this election judge .inadvertently caused this voter to be arrested, tried and sent to prison.
We really need a very specific set of instructions for cases like this one. If I can't find a voter I call the main office and have them find out why this voter isn't on the registry. If Elections Central tells me the voter can't vote then I explain the voter's rights. Usually it is because the voter registration card was returned as undeliverable two election cycles in a row; this would purge the voter. I do not know if voters on parole are automatically removed, but it was obvious Crystal was not correctly advised of her rights.
Her parole officer is at fault and should be penalized in some fashion and Ms Mason should not have been sent to prison.
I know that parolees are aware of their voting rights, because I encounter far too many who will tell me right up front that they can't vote because they have served time. My duty as a DVR is to advise the voter of their rights. and tell him/her to contact their parole officer or the Corrections office to verify voting status.
The last I heard, Ms Mason's case was moving up the appeal process. I hope she wins and penalties are assessed accordingly.
= new reply since forum marked as read
