Debt Paid, But a Right Still Denied

• Originally published in The Washington Post February 27, 2005

Copyright 2005 The Washington Post
Nearly 5 million American adults, or 2.3 percent of the national electorate, are barred from voting because they have a felony conviction. In Maryland the rates are even higher -- 3.6 percent of Maryland citizens cannot vote because of a felony on their record. That translates to about 200,000 people who have completed their sentences behind bars but continue to be punished.

Laws that ban citizens with felony convictions from participating in democracy go back to the days of Jim Crow, and the legacy of these racially discriminatory roots haunts us still -- 8.1 percent of African Americans in Maryland cannot vote, more than four times the national average for African Americans.

We can't talk about felon disenfranchisement without talking about the failed war on drugs, the primary cause of escalating arrest and incarceration rates, especially in poor communities of color. According to Human Rights Watch, drug use is approximately equal across racial categories, yet African Americans are far more likely to serve jail time for drug crimes than whites arrested for the same crimes. In Maryland, nine out of 10 people locked up on drug offenses are African American.

In the past few years Maryland has taken strides to correct the problems arising from the nexus between felon disenfranchisement and the failed drug war.

In 2002 the legislature removed the lifetime ban on voting by two-time ex-felons -- with the exception of those with two violent convictions. This legislative change allows two-time ex-felons to apply for the restoration of their voting rights three years after completion of their probation and parole. They are not, however, guaranteed that their application to vote will be approved. One-time ex-felons are eligible to apply for the restoration of their voting rights immediately after finishing probation and parole, although, again, acceptance of their application to vote is not guaranteed.

Last year Maryland also stepped out in front of the nation by passing legislation that diverts nonviolent drug offenders into treatment instead of incarceration -- an effort to move away from an expensive, failed criminal justice model and toward a more effective public health approach to drug abuse. This change saves the state money even as it makes our communities safer. As a result of this landmark legislation, nonviolent drug users no longer will be charged with felonies that strip them of their voting rights.

This year Maryland has another opportunity -- and duty -- to restore voting rights. Passage of House Bill 12 would change the law so that people would be allowed to vote as soon as they have completed their prison sentences. This already is the law in 13 states.

The bill would eliminate the confusion caused by Maryland's current law, which created several classes of former offenders and entails a three-year waiting period that begins after completion of probation, parole, restitution and fines. Some eligible former offenders are reluctant to vote now for fear of being in violation of this complicated law.

People living in the community under probation or parole supervision are required to maintain gainful employment or attend school. They pay taxes as do other citizens, yet they are denied the right to vote for the officials whose decisions affect their lives.

Maryland should end this practice of taxation without representation and bring democracy to all the state's people.

-- Salima Siler Marriott

is a Democratic delegate to the Maryland House representing District 40 in Baltimore and the lead sponsor of the Voting Rights Restoration Bill.

-- Michael A. Blain is the director of public policy  for the Drug Policy Alliance.

Delegate_S_Marriott@house.state.md.us