- 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