ISSUE: Voting by felons completing sentences

OUR VIEW: Immediate establishment of voting rights is issue for South Carolina

A widespread public assumption is that persons convicted of felonies lose their right to vote for as long as a lifetime. That’s the case in states such Florida, Alabama, Virginia, Delaware and New Mexico. Not so in South Carolina.

As laws in Southern states aimed at preventing or limiting voting privileges were eliminated, some went back to the drawing board to pass new statutes. A number wrote into law limits on convicted criminals’ right to vote. South Carolina was not one of them.

In this state, individuals convicted of felonies in state or federal court, or of misdemeanors involving violations of election law, may not vote until full completion of sentence. At that point, the right to vote is automatically restored. If convicted of any other misdemeanor, an individual only loses the right to vote while incarcerated. The state allows counties to require documentation of sentence completion.

This past week, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Progressive Network released results of a study about voting by convicted felons. The study examined South Carolina and 19 other states.

In South Carolina, the focus was just how knowledgeable voter registration officials in each county are about the voting rights of convicted felons who have completed their sentences, including probation and/or parole stipulations.

“The news isn’t all bad in South Carolina,” Rachel Bloom, who oversees the group’s ex-felon voting programs, told The Associated Press.

The study found South Carolina election officials generally know that ex-felons can vote immediately after completing sentences. It did find problems with knowledge about voting rights for persons convicted in other states and of a federal offense.

The purpose of the exercise is to foster voting, according to the ACLU and Progessive, who contend the study shows a need for officials to have better understanding of election law.

For its part, the State Election Commission, which mails letters to felons notifying them of a loss of voting rights, says it will begin informing convicts they can re-register after completing their sentences.

Such notification is appropriate -- as long as that is the law.

What the study may do -- and arguably should do -- is step away from the rhetoric of denying voting rights and prompt an examination of voting laws in the state.

Already there are concerns about abuses of the absentee voting process based on how simple it has become to vote absentee. And there constantly are complaints about regulations regarding campaigning near polling places. Proper identification of a person is sure to become even more an issue as it has regarding other official business with the state.

Voting is a privilege in this country to be enjoyed by law-abiding citizens. It carries with it responsibilities. If South Carolina or any other state wishes to put stipulations on if and when a person convicted of a major violation of society’s laws can have the voting privilege restored, that is within the state’s authority.

With a hunch that even a sizable number of lawmakers are not aware of the state returning the vote so quickly to a convicted felon, we suggest an examination of the issue even as the General Assembly considers other changes to election law. The aim should not be a permanent denial of voting rights, but there is legitimacy in a period after release during which a convicted felon must re-establish the right to vote by proving he or she can be a law-abiding member of society.

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