March 26, 2008
For Immediate Release
For More Information, contact Nsombi Lambright, 601-573-3978
Voter ID Bill Will Strip Thousands of Voting Rights
The ACLU opposes the attempt of state legislators and the Secretary of State to mask a politically polarizing Voter ID bill with provisions to restore voting rights to ex-felons, only after taking these rights away from individuals who currently have them!
Mississippi’s Constitution currently names ten felony crimes that permanently take voting rights away from individuals. These crimes are perjury, bribery, murder, rape, embezzlement, forgery, receiving money/goods under false pretense, theft, bigamy and arson. Eleven additional crimes were added to the voter registration form in 2005 by the Secretary of State, by using an Attorney General’s opinion. These addition of these crimes are currently being litigated by the ACLU. Senate Concurrent Resolution 624 will disfranchise all persons with felony convictions and allow them to re register after a two year waiting period.
“Senate Concurrent Resolution 624 is bad state policy that attempts to trick Mississippians into believing that it would address voter fraud and give ex-felons their right to vote back, but in reality, it takes voting rights away from more individuals who have paid their debts to society, then forces them to re register two years after the completion of all terms and conditions of their sentences,” says Nsombi Lambright, Executive Director of the ACLU of MS.
The ACLU of MS, along with the state NAACP, formed a coalition called the MS Voter Empowerment Coalition, four years ago to address the issue of voter restoration for persons with felony convictions. Since that time, our research has found that because of confusion and misinformation about the state law, half of the state’s county circuit clerk’s offices do not know the current state law regarding which felony crimes are ineligible to vote. These are the offices responsible for voter registration. Our survey found that over 140, 000 Mississippians are “legally” disfranchised. However, many more believe that they have lost their voting rights because of misinformation.
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