Testimony In Support of house bills 687 and 1256: Acts related to the voting rights of individuals convicted of crimes
Testimony from:
Chris McIsaac, Governance Fellow, R Street Institute
In SUPPORT of house bills 687 and 1256: Acts related to the voting rights of individuals convicted of crimes
February 27, 2024
House Criminal Justice Subcommittee
Chairman Doggett and Members of the Subcommittee:
My name is Chris McIsaac, and I conduct research on election policy for the R Street Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization. Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government across a variety of policy areas, including electoral processes and criminal justice reform. This is why house bills 687 and 1256 are important to us.
When it comes to voting rights for citizens convicted of felonies, state legislatures should be focused on re-enfranchising those who complete their sentences while limiting the amount of red tape involved in the process. HB 687 and HB 1256 both represent important steps in this direction by automatically ending voting restrictions for most individuals convicted of felonies upon completion of their sentences and eliminating other monetary and process requirements that exist under current law.
State laws vary on the treatment of voting rights for citizens returning to society after a period of incarceration for a felony conviction. Most temporarily suspend the individual’s right to vote and then automatically restore it at some point after the sentence has been completed. Tennessee is one of the 11 states that do not automatically restore but instead provide a path to restoration with additional requirements.[1] The laws and process in Tennessee are among the strictest and most complicated to navigate, and as of 2022, Tennessee had the second highest number of disenfranchised voters due to felony convictions in the nation.[2]
States have recently moved toward more permissive policies around voting by convicted felons, including expanded restorations of voting rights in Wyoming, Minnesota and New Mexico just last year.[3] Policy changes like these are happening for a number of reasons. First, there is a logical consistency to ending all punishments on the same schedule, whether related to voting or otherwise. In addition, research shows that voting provides a benefit to the individual as they reintegrate into society by reducing the likelihood of committing another crime within three years of release compared to non-voters.[4]
Restoring voting rights is also popular among voters. Polling from 2018 found that 63 percent of respondents across the political spectrum supported an end to barring the right to vote permanently.[5] More recently, a 2021 poll from Kentucky found that 67 percent of respondents favored restoring felon voter rights, a 2-to-1 margin.[6] Also in 2018, Florida voters approved a ballot initiative restoring voter rights with nearly 65 percent support.[7]
While HB 687 and HB 1256 take slightly different approaches, both will expand access to voting rights for individuals who successfully completed sentences for felony convictions in Tennessee. For that reason, I urge the committee to advance both bills and continue working toward a final proposal that re-enfranchises the thousands of Tennessee citizens who have completed their sentences but cannot vote under the current system.
Thank you for your time,
Chris McIsaac
Fellow, Governance
R Street Institute
508-776-0725
[email protected]
[1]National Conference of State Legislators, “Felon Voting Rights,” December 5, 2023. https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/felon-voting-rights
[2]The Sentencing Project, “Tennessee Denies Voting Rights to Over 470,000 Citizens,” last accessed February 26, 2024. https://www.sentencingproject.org/app/uploads/2023/01/Tennessee-Voting-Rights-for-People-with-Felony-Convictions.pdf
[3] National Conference of State Legislators, “Felon Voting Rights,” December 5, 2023. https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/felon-voting-rights
[4] Christopher Uggen and Jeff Manza, “Voting and Subsequent Crime and Arrest: Evidence from a Community Sample,” Columbia Human Rights Law Review (2004). https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Voting-and-Subsequent-Crime-and-Arrest%3A-Evidence-a-Uggen-Manza/3887bffdb10e5006e2f902fcf2a46abaa9efdf46?p2df.
[5] Karina Schroeder, “Majority of Americans Say Voting Rights Should be Restored for People with Felony Convictions,” Think Justice Blog, March 22, 2018. https://www.vera.org/blog/majority-of-americans-say-voting-rights-should-be-restored-for-people-with-felony-convictions.
[6] “New polling suggests Kentuckians support amendment to automatically restore voting rights,” Northern Kentucky Tribune, Feb. 20, 2021. https://www.nkytribune.com/2021/02/new-polling-suggests-kentuckians-support-amendment-to-automatically-restore-voting-rights/.
[7] “Voting Rights Restoration Efforts in Florida,” Brennan Center for Justice, Sept. 11, 2020. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-rights-restoration-efforts-florida.