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WA: Debt shouldn?t prevent restoration of voting rights

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Debt shouldn?t prevent restoration of voting rights THE NEWS TRIBUNE Editorial Published: 03/24/09 Buying the right to vote is so contrary to the idea of democracy that many Washingtonians would be surprised to find out that it?s happening in their state. Current state law enforces a double standard in restoring the voting rights of felons who?ve been released from state supervision. The ones with means to pay their court fines in full can vote; the ones who can only afford to pay down their debts bit by bit may have to wait years before they are deemed worthy of helping elect a mayor or approve a school bond. Such disparate treatment effectively makes the right to vote depend on the contents of a released felons? wallet. The state Supreme Court has upheld the policy as constitutional, but constitutional doesn?t mean fair...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on April 06, 2009 (boomark / email).