New laws restore voting rights to residents with felony convictions

Source: Nebraska Examiner

By: Amanda Hernández - October 23, 2024 6:45 pm

As political campaigns scramble for every vote, the Plains states of Nebraska and Oklahoma have passed laws that aim to restore voting rights to people with felony convictions. Thousands of voters could be brought back into the political process, potentially influencing election outcomes in some communities.

Other states have also taken steps to expand or restrict ballot access for residents who have been convicted of felonies. The laws might affect just a few thousand voters in each state, but in close races those numbers could make a difference.

Nebraska’s new law, passed in the spring, erases a two-year waiting period and restores the right to vote to an estimated 7,000 Nebraskans who completed their sentences since 2022, according to The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit criminal justice research and advocacy group.

On July 17 — two days before the law was set to take effect — Republican Attorney General Mike Hilgers issued an opinion arguing the new law violated the Nebraska Constitution. Hilgers also argued that the underlying 2005 law, which automatically restored voting rights two years after the completion of a felony sentence, was unconstitutional.

Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/23/new-laws-restore-voting-rights-to-residents-with-felony-convictions/