Marian Wright Edelman, the Black activist for civil and children’s rights who also had a major influence on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has long been credited for saying, “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”
She repeated the phrase often to suggest how important voting remains for all Americans and how voting is not only a right but a responsibility. However, the irony remains that depending on where you live, democracy can be “a spectator sport” – at least when it comes to exercising and enjoying some of the rights guaranteed under the Constitution to all citizens.
If you haven’t guessed by now, we’re referring to the laws that exist in nearly 48 states that either ban or restrict voting for those with felony convictions.
Roughly 4.6 million Americans, 1 in every 50 adults, cannot legally vote because of felony convictions. For African Americans, the numbers are even worse – 1 in 10 Black adults cannot legally vote.
The differences in laws from one state to another have often led to both fear and confusion for returning citizens – that is, former felons whose sentence has been served and have been released from incarceration. So while you don’t have to have a college degree, a basic understanding of U.S. civics is recommended for those who want to exercise their right to vote – especially if you’re a former felon.
Unfortunately, that’s where the unabashed absurdity begins. Where you live matters.
According to the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, as of July 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (as well as Maine, Puerto Rico and Vermont), a criminal conviction never restricts your voting rights.
In Maryland, you only lose your right to vote if you are currently incarcerated for a felony conviction. Immediately upon release, you can register to vote, as long as your conviction was not for buying or selling votes. Further, pretrial detention, misdemeanors, probation and parole do not restrict your voting rights.
In 2021, then-Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, took executive action to automatically restore the right to vote to all Virginians who are not currently incarcerated. But then, in 2022, when Gov. Glenn Youngkin took office, he quietly terminated that practice. Nuances to the new law notwithstanding, Virginia now counts as the only state in the Union that permanently disenfranchises all people with felony convictions, unless the government approves individual rights restoration.
Is race an issue? You be the judge. A large percentage of felony convictions are for non-violent drug charges. Further, America’s long history of discrimination and racial bias has led to disproportionately higher rates of arrests and incarceration for Black males.
So, depending on where you live, you may never lose the right to vote, or you regain the right to vote upon your release, or you can regain the right to vote with parole and probation times, or your right to vote is denied indefinitely.
Critics of restoring voting rights believe that being a convicted felon has stopped a person from being a responsible citizen. Sounds like they’re opposed to giving folks a second chance.
Does that mean that they have never broken the law, or that they have never been caught? Maybe, they could afford a high-priced lawyer that resulted in their being found innocent in court.
For our money, it’s all just a slippery slope – or so it seems.
During “The Arsenio Hall Show,” which ran from 1989 to 1994, Hall, employing a touch of hip-hop culture, coined a phrase that remains embedded in the minds of many Americans, African Americns in particular. During his monologue each night, when considering an issue that led to consternation and confusion, sometimes even bordering on the absurd, he would say, “things that make you go hmmm.”
Arsenio, we agree with you. Sometimes, sadly, that’s all you can say.