Shortly after Hillary Clinton announced her 2008 candidacy, she introduced the Count Every Vote Act S. 804, which would have restored those rights to anyone not currently incarcerated or not on parole or probation for a felony.
The bill would have amended the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve the administration of elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.
Clinton is not the first 2016 candidate to raise this issue. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has repeatedly advocated for restoring voting rights for felons convicted of certain crimes.
As it stands today, people who are convicted of felonies but are on parole can or cannot vote depending on where they live, since rules on felon voting differ by state.
CLICK HERE to read The Sentencing Project's handy primer on the state's differences (PDF).
In total, some 5.8 million people are barred from voting in the United States because of their criminal past, according to the Sentencing Project's data.
But since the government tracks people who are in prison or on parole, but once they're free, it's hard to determine where they are or if they're even still alive. In other words, we can't know how the Count Every Vote Act would change an election.
On May 22, 2015, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland vetoed a Democratic-backed bill that would ave allowed ex-felons to vote upon getting out of prison that would have restored voting rights to around 40,000 former felons. In letters to legislative leaders, Hogan, a Republican, said earlier legislation that lets ex-felons vote once they’ve completed parole and probation “achieves the proper balance between the repayment of obligations to society for a felony conviction and the restoration of the various restricted rights.”
A host of other states, including Virginia, Minnesota, and Kentucky, have lately seen efforts to make it easier for former felons to vote.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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