A state Senate committee tasked with looking at the possibility of restoring voting rights to nonviolent felons who are still on probation or paying off fines voted 3-2 Wednesday to make no changes to state law at this time but continue to look at the issue.
The Senate Study Committee on Revising Voting Rights for Nonviolent Felony Offenders is made up of five Senate members — all appointed by Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan. It held three meetings in the past few months and drew packed crowds at all three meetings. During Wednesday’s final meeting, the committee approved its final recommendations.
“There is a lot of confusion out there about sentences, incarceration and probation, and after many hours of testimony during three different meetings, I felt it would be better to leave things the way they are right now rather than add to the confusion,” said committee chair Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula). “We were directed by our Lt. Governor to come back with a recommendation, and we were going to do just that. Our recommendation is not to do anything different at this time, but to keep looking at the issue.
“We heard a lot of testimony during the three meetings, and we also received a lot of pushback on this issue from victims of crime who wanted to make sure we considered their side as well,” Robertson added. “We must remember that felonies are serious crimes that come with consequences such as losing voting rights.”
Democrats on the study committee introduced an option during the third and final hearing that would define a list of 127 felonies that would leave those convicted of these more serious crimes without voting rights until fully completing their sentences. Under this plan, those found guilty of less serious felonies would have been able to vote after their release from incarceration.
State Majority Leader Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton) also served on the committee and agreed with recommending no changes at this time.
“After listening to hours of compelling testimony, most said that voting rights should be restored after the convicted person’s sentence is complete,” said Dugan. “A majority of the committee agreed with that sentiment. A third option was introduced during the final hearing that could have possibly meant additional changes but there was no way that all of the 127 exceptions introduced could be thoroughly vetted during that meeting so we agreed to let that information be included in the final findings sent forward and available for future consideration.
“I would like to thank all of those who contributed their time to review this important issue,” Dugan added.
