Ex-Felon Re-Enfranchisement

Building a Healthy Society

 

Democracy North Carolina is one of the leading forces in our state when it comes to conducting outreach to citizens with past criminal records. Our goal is to inform people convicted of a felony that, regardless of where they were originally convicted, they have the right to vote in NC if they have fulfilled the other requirements for voter eligibility and have completed their sentences, including any parole or probation. Rather than isolate people, we want them to be engaged in society and invested in its future.

During the 2008 election, we created brochures that were widely distributed by GOTV groups and we distributed a poster to parole officers and other organizations to display. We also worked within the system to inform parole officials about the voter rights of ex-felons and worked directly with groups providing counseling and other treatment or transition services. We also publicized these rights at numerous meetings and public events, sometimes featuring former felons as keynote speakers, and conducted extensive media outreach on the topic. We also conducted voter registration drives targeted toward this population and helped others do the same.

Going forward, we have formed alliances with a number of our partners to take a closer look at the most efficient ways to inform people convicted of a felony or misdemeanor about their voting rights. We are looking at how to overcome institutional barriers and misinformation, as well as creative ways to educate citizens about their rights and how to vote in an informed manner. We will also continue to provide materials and hand-outs to groups helping us get the word out about this important right.

Why We Make the Effort

We conduct outreach to individuals who “served their time” for several reasons. North Carolina law restores the rights of citizenship to people who have completed their sentences, i.e., “paid their debt to society” – and we believe that voting is not only a fundamental right, but the responsibility of every citizen and a vital means of self-respect and self-expression. We want to ensure that all rights of all citizens are upheld. Beyond that, a growing field of study has identified a pattern of lower recidivism rates among ex-offenders who vote. Further research is required to definitively say if this can be attributed to voting as part of resuming a fuller role in society or if it is a by-product of other factors. However, established research, as detailed in our Democracy Index, does show that societies with higher voting rates have lower crime rates and a better quality of life.

In other words, respecting the rights of ex-felons to vote is not only the right thing to do, it's also good for North Carolina.

 

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