Darneille reintroduces bill to restore voting rights to former offenders

January 26, 2009

OLYMPIA—Armed with new legislation designed to overcome old controversies, state Rep. Jeannie Darneille is again proposing a law to restore voting rights to ex-offenders who have served their sentences and stayed out of trouble.

Restoring voting rights is a matter of basic fairness, according to Darneille (D-Tacoma).

"Former offenders who have done all their time, including probation and parole, have clearly earned their freedom, but it's not real freedom if you're excluded from any say in decisions that govern your life," Darneille said.

Darneille's measure would restore voting rights to ex-offenders who have completed their sentences and are no longer under the authority of the Department of Corrections. People convicted of felonies in federal or other state courts would have their voting rights restored when they are no longer incarcerated.

Under current law, ex-offenders who have served their full sentences-even those who have completed probation or parole-are denied the right to vote if they owe court costs or court-ordered monetary debts.

"Basing anyone's voting rights on how quickly they can pay a financial debt is unfair and un-American," Darneille argues. "This is a last sad vestige of voting-rights injustice in a nation that was born under the banner of 'no taxation without representation' and that rejected all other poll taxes a long time ago."

The disenfranchisement is not limited to a small number of the most serious offenders. Nearly 170,000 Washingtonians who were once convicted of felonies are denied the right to vote under current law.

Darneille has pushed for voting rights restoration since entering the legislature in 2001, but her 2009 proposal ends earlier concerns about extending the franchise to persons who are still under the authority of the Department of Corrections. Her revised legislation has earned the support of Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed as well as a recent unanimous endorsement by the Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors.

"More and more people are realizing that restoring voting rights supports our self-interest as well as our principles," said Darneille.

Darneille cited studies from Project Vote, the American Civil Liberties Union and others which show that recognizing the voting rights of ex-offenders reduces recidivism and helps to speed reintegration of former offenders into the community.

"Common sense and the facts show that a sense of belonging is vital to encouraging a sense of responsibility," Darneille said.

Darneille said that denying voting rights to former offenders also hurts communities that have experienced disproportionate rates of incarceration.

"There is no reason why over-representation in the criminal justice system should automatically translate into the perpetual underrepresentation of communities of color in the political process," Darneille said.

According to Darneille, the unfairness of denying voting rights based on the ability to pay financial debts is compounded by the 12 percent interest rates that ex-offenders are forced to pay on those debts.

"It is fundamentally unfair to charge these exorbitant interest rates to people who are often poor and struggling to support families," Darneille said. "For many low-income persons, the voting restrictions and these unreasonable interest rates amount to a life sentence to second-class citizenship. It is just wrong."

Darneille's House Bill 1517 will be considered by the House Committee on State Government and Tribal Affairs.