Summary

Representative Harold Dutton's bill is an effort to inform former inmates from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, that they have the right to vote. Under Texas election code, even former felons, once they serve their time and are considered to be "off-paper" are allowed to vote.

Background

Many former inmates do not know that their voting rights have been restored, or in the case of non-felons that they were never even forfeited. The right of ex-felons to vote varies state by state. The Sentencing Project, estimates that there are over 5 million people who have been disenfranchised of their right to vote.

"Voting is both a fundamental right and a civic duty. Yet, alone among modern democracies, the United States permits laws that lock people out of the voting booth for life once they have been convicted of crimes. These laws are often a remnant of Jim Crow."
-The Brennen Center for Justice

Ex-felons who have completed their debt to society, by completing their sentences, should be given the opportunity to participate in their community fully. It gives them more of a vested interest in what happens with their lives and in their communities. Notifying them of their rights to vote, is simply following the spirit of the law that freed them from prison, with their sentence fully discharged.

Additional Links

The Sentencing Project
Right to Vote