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Washington may be 18th state allowing felons to vote right after prison

Washington may be 18th state allowing felons to vote right after prison

The bill would allow 9,000 more people to cast ballots this November.

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Washington looks on course to become the second state in as many months to restore voting rights to felons as soon as they leave prison.

Last week a state Senate committee approved a bill repealing a requirement that convicts complete probation before reclaiming the franchise. The measure now goes to the full Senate, which like the state House has a solid Democratic majority.

New Jersey, another state where the levers of power are all in Democrats' hands, re-enfranchised more than 80,000 people by enacting a similar law in December — becoming the 17th state, plus Washington, D.C., where discharge from prison is the only barrier to a felon voting.


Washington, for now, is on the roster of 20 states where parole or probation must be completed first. But Gov. Jay Inslee is also a Democrat, and his signature would allow 9,000 more people to cast ballots this November in the reliably blue state.

Restoring felon voting rights has become a mostly partisan issue, with Democratic legislatures and governors supporting the idea and Republicans pushing back.

One exception is Iowa, where Gov. Kim Reynolds is pushing her fellow Republicans in the General Assembly to pass a bill that would automatically restore voting rights to felons following their release. Currently, an Iowa felon can only regain the right to vote by securing the governor's permission.

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Stolen Land, Stolen Votes: Native Americans Defending the VRA Protects Us All – and We Should Support Them

Wilson Deschine sits at the "be my voice" voter registration stand at the Navajo Nation annual rodeo, in Window Rock.

Getty Images, David Howells

Stolen Land, Stolen Votes: Native Americans Defending the VRA Protects Us All – and We Should Support Them

On July 24, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a Circuit Court order in a far-reaching case that could affect the voting rights of all Americans. Native American tribes and individuals filed the case as part of their centuries-old fight for rights in their own land.

The underlying subject of the case confronts racial gerrymandering against America’s first inhabitants, where North Dakota’s 2021 redistricting reduced Native Americans’ chances of electing up to three state representatives to just one. The specific issue that the Supreme Court may consider, if it accepts hearing the case, is whether individuals and associations can seek justice under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). That is because the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, contradicting other courts, said that individuals do not have standing to bring Section 2 cases.

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Trojan Horse: How CA Democrats Might Use Voter ID To Turn Back the Clock

Voter IDs are a requirement in almost every democracy in the world. But legitimate concerns over voter suppression efforts in the American south led to a different ethic inside Democratic Party circles.

Image generated by IVN staff.

Trojan Horse: How CA Democrats Might Use Voter ID To Turn Back the Clock

Voter IDs are a requirement in almost every democracy in the world from Europe to Mexico.

But legitimate concerns over voter suppression efforts in the American south led to a different ethic inside Democratic Party circles. Over time, Voter ID plans have been presumptively conflated with claims of “voter suppression” without much analysis of the actual impact of proposals.

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Person voting

New York City’s election has gotten a lot of attention over the last few weeks, and ranked choice voting is a big part of the reason why.

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New York City’s Ranked Choice Voting: Democracy That’s Accountable to Voters

New York City’s election has gotten a lot of attention over the last few weeks, and ranked choice voting is a big part of the reason why.

Heads turned when 33-year-old state legislator Zohran Mamdani knocked off Andrew Cuomo, a former governor from one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent families. The earliest polls for the mayoral primary this winter found Mamdani struggling to reach even 1 percent.

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Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series
polling station poster on clear glass door

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series

In Part One, Pat Merloe explored the impact of the political environment, the need for constitutional defense against power-grabbing, and the malign effects of proof of citizenship on voting.

In the second part of the three-part series, Merloe explores the harmful effects of Executive Orders, the reversal of the Justice Department on voting rights, and the effects of political retribution.

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