By Journalist Amaya Brooks (OBU).
Representatives Gonser and Martin (NWOSU) present their bill in the House and Senate today. This bill would allow convicted felons to vote once they are released from prison and are on parole. This bill was very popular in the House. Representative Baughman (SE) says, “All this bill is doing is allowing for all formerly convicted convicts who are currently on parole or probation to now vote in federal, state, and local elections. If the person is currently incarcerated, they are not eligible. All it does is preserve their inherent rights, liberty, justice, and political representation.”
The question this bill raises is one of whether people can retain their right to vote after being incarcerated for a felony. According to Representative Hodson (OSU), “A major concern about this legislation is the just overall social contract theory. If you broke the rules of the social contract that we have set up as a society, then you deserve not to have those rights. This depends on whether you believe that the revocation of rights should continue after the service of one of the penalties or whether all of the service of all of the penalties have been served.”
Furthermore, Representative Hodson says, “It is my opinion that when it comes to this type of legislation that the crime that they have done has already been served… In the House, the overall intent of giving these people back their voting rights was agreed upon, but just whether or not this should include those who are on parole. The overall intent is to make sure that a disenfranchised group is able to participate and be actively involved in the election cycles, especially when they are part of society.”
This bill passed in the House and Senate.