Colorado could restore voting rights to 9,000 felons this year

Colorado isn’t planning to let people vote from prison any time soon, but about 9,000 convicted felons could win back their right to vote in time for the 2019 election.

A bill moving its way through the Capitol would re-enfranchise felons who are out on parole.

An examination by the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Council found that the bill — House Bill 1266, sponsored by Denver Rep. Leslie Herod in the House and Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg of Boulder — would re-enfranchise at least 9,297 people by June of this year, and hundreds more by 2020. Voters across the state will decide in November on countless municipal issues and candidates, plus as many as four statewide spending measures.

Argued Fenberg, “This is an incredibly important bill. … I think this is about democracy, how we want to treat people, how we approach rehabilitation and, frankly, the rights and freedoms for people who have served their time in the criminal justice system.”

Read more: https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2019/04/25/colorado-could-restore-voting-rights-to-9000-felons-this-year/