FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 26, 2016
Date: May 26, 2016
Contact: Chris Evanson, (202) 868-0261
Rep. Grayson Introduces Voter Restoration Act
~5.8 million Americans cannot vote because of felony convictions ~
~ Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) sign-on as co-sponsors ~
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL09) introduced the No One Can Take Away Your Right to Vote Act of 2016, H.R. 5352, legislation that will reinstate voting rights to Americans who have been shut out of the political process as a result of criminal convictions. Congressmen Keith Ellison (D-MN) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) have signed onto the bill as original co-sponsors.
“It’s a bill about redemption, about giving second chances and about closure,” said Congressman Grayson. “We can’t have first-class citizens and second-class citizens in America. Under our Constitution everyone, even convicted felons, are entitled to equal protection under the law.”
This legislation will amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, by prohibiting states from disqualifying individuals convicted of criminal offenses from voting in federal and local elections, and from registering to vote, with the exception of those convicted of murder, manslaughter, or sex crimes.
“Denying voting rights to ex-offenders robs them of the opportunity to fully participate and contribute to their society,” said Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich). “In the past two election cycles, flawed voter purges have deprived thousands of legitimate voters of their rights. To continue denying them the ability to reclaim rights as citizens resurrects historic unenlightened practices of our society. Just like poll taxes and literacy tests, it is long past time that these restrictions be relegated to unenlightened history.”
Florida leads the nation in disenfranchised voters, with 1.5 million Floridians barred as a result of felony convictions. 23 percent of Florida’s black voting-age population cannot vote, and Florida is one of three states that permanently disenfranchise felons. Nationwide, 5.8 million Americans cannot vote because of felony convictions.
To access Rep. Grayson’s full statement, please read below.
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Congressman Alan Grayson represents Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County, as well as parts of Orange and Polk Counties.
Grayson.House.Gov
Congressman Alan Grayson’s Statement on Voting Right Restoration Bill
Currently, 5.8 million Americans can’t vote because of felony convictions and 1.5 million of them are in Florida. We represent more than a quarter of the total national population of disenfranchised voters even though we represent only 6 percent of the nation’s population. We lead the nation in voter disenfranchisement. In total, 1 out of 10 Floridians can’t vote, but nearly a quarter of African American adults in Florida are not able to cast a ballot because of a felony conviction.
This punishment is a legacy from less civilized times. It was an old English law called “civil death” where convicts were stripped of their rights and their property and they were then banished. That’s the origin of the term “outlaw” – being placed outside the law including the right to vote. These people were outlawed from society.
More recently, the Black Codes were put into place after the Civil War in the South. Florida’s Black Codes were actually as draconian as Mississippi’s: White women couldn’t live with men of color. Men of color couldn’t own guns. Simply being unemployed as an African American, you could be charged with the crime of “vagrancy” and then you wouldn’t be able to vote. As a black man in the 1860’s in Florida, you could be convicted simply for disrespecting a white person and then you wouldn’t be able to vote.
Your voting rights could be revoked for as heinous a crime, if you will, as not being nice enough to a white guy. In my state, as well as in only Kentucky and Iowa – just three states, Americans are permanently disenfranchised for a felony conviction. That can be something as simple as having some pot in your pocket; that’s a felony. The drug war has managed to purge the voter rolls in Florida in a way that’s grossly unfair to African Americans.
In 10 other states you can lose your right to vote while in jail for a misdemeanor. Just a misdemeanor: Such unspeakable infractions like public intoxication, reckless driving and disorderly conduct. Frankly, if Congress were held to that standard, I’d be the only one left.
My bill, the No One Can Take Away Your Right to Vote Act, will change that. It will restore the rights of Americans who’ve served their time as long as they’re not killers or sex offenders.
It’s a bill about redemption, about giving second chances and about closure. We can’t have first-class citizens and second-class citizens in America. Under our Constitution everyone, even convicted felons, are entitled to equal protection under the law. Joining me in this bill are Congressmen Keith Ellison and John Conyers, they are what we call “original co-sponsors.” Keith Ellison is the head of the Progressive Caucus – a group of 70 Democrats in Congress who join together for purposes like this one. And John Conyers, of course, is a tremendous Congressional leader. One of the longest serving Members of Congress in history, an African American who’s represented Detroit for almost half a century now.
I want people to understand how important this is to me personally. Regardless of the outcome of the 2016 election, I hope to see a constitutional initiative on the ballot no later than 2018 in order to put this question to the voters of Florida. Whether we should have continuation of the current system of first-class citizenship and second-class citizenship or whether we should be governed by the principles of redemption and closure.
Voting Rights Facts and Background Information
- Florida leads the nation in barring Americans from voting because on felony convictions: 1.5 million Floridians can’t vote.
- More than one in 10 Floridians – and nearly one in four African-American Floridians – are shut out of the polls because of felony convictions.
- Only Iowa, Kentucky and Florida permanently disenfranchise felons.
- In 10 states it’s possible to lose your right merely because of a misdemeanor conviction.
- 23 percent of Florida’s black voting-age population cannot vote.
- 5.8 million Americans cannot vote because of felony convictions.
- Americans currently incarcerated represent a minority of the total disenfranchised population: 75 percent of disenfranchised voters are not in prison but either under probation or parole supervision or having completed their sentence.
