More than 15,000 U.S. citizens in Washington state serving felony sentences could become eligible to vote under a proposed state law.
Advocates behind the Washington bill say restricting incarcerated people from voting while they’re completing their felony sentences undermines the state’s constitutional values and perpetuates racial injustices imbued in the criminal legal system.
House Bill 1196 would guarantee voting rights to all people, revoking that right only when the person is convicted of a state crime punishable by death. Because the state officially abolished the death penalty in 2023, if the bill is signed into law, effectively all people incarcerated in Washington would have a right to vote unless the state reinstated capital punishment.
Voting is a fundamental right, said Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, the bill's sponsor and Washington's first formerly incarcerated state legislator. Felony disenfranchisement is an outdated punishment against incarcerated people that does not serve the public interest or make the community safer, she said. Simmons served time for felony convictions for theft, drugs and unlawful possession of a gun; her criminal record was cleared in 2023.
They're already punished in so many other ways," Simmons said. "To make them feel like they're part of the community and to have individuals thinking about things that are bigger than themselves and getting ready for reentry while they're in prison by engaging in issues — voting makes them feel a little more connected.
Voter exclusion disproportionately impacts people of color, according to The Sentencing Project, a national nonprofit that supports the legislation and publishes research on felony disenfranchisement laws.
Black citizens in Washington are five times as likely as non-Black citizens to be excluded from voting because of a felony conviction, the nonprofit estimates, and Latino citizens are twice as likely as non-Latino citizens to have their voting rights denied for the same reason.
In only two states, Maine and Vermont, are all people in prisons eligible to vote. All incarcerated people in Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico can vote. In some states, like Alabama and Mississippi, certain incarcerated people with felony sentences can vote, depending on their specific conviction. In Washington state, people in jail for a misdemeanor conviction, or who are detained but have not been convicted of a crime, are still eligible to vote.
This is not the first time Washington legislators have worked to improve voting access for incarcerated people. A 2021 law restored the voting rights for people convicted of a felony immediately upon release, a change that impacted more than 20,000 people, though very few have ultimately cast their ballot.
Since 1997, 26 states and Washington, D.C., have rolled back their disenfranchisement laws, allowing more than 2 million Americans to regain the right to vote, according to estimates by The Sentencing Project. Several countries allow citizens who are incarcerated to vote, including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The practice of widespread felony disenfranchisement traces back to the aftermath of the Civil War, when lawmakers, particularly those in the Jim Crow South, were “explicitly trying to exclude African Americans and other people of color from the ballot,” said Bob Libal, senior campaign strategist with The Sentencing Project.
Republicans and Secretary of State Steve Hobbs — who voted against the 2021 bill when he was a state senator — have pushed back against HB 1196, which was introduced during last year's session.
During a public hearing last year, Rep. Kevin Waters, R-Stevenson, said some people in prison may never be released, and that felony disenfranchisement is a deterrent for committing crimes. A representative of the secretary of state's office also noted at the time that expanding voting rights to people in prison would be both financially and logistically difficult.
Expanding voting access for incarcerated people should be considered a tool for improved public safety, Libal said. At least 95% of people in prisons will be released at some point, and research shows voting is correlated with an increased sense of personal responsibility, successful reentry and boosted community connections, and a reduced likelihood of reoffending.
“Voting is a pro-social activity, and people who participate in voting are less likely to recommit offenses or to go back to prison,” Simmons said.
If the law passes, people would write a letter to the county elections office or county auditor where their last permanent residence was before their incarceration to register to vote, Simmons said. People in prison would seal their ballot envelopes in front of a correctional officer, similar to the way legal letters are monitored.
Incarcerated people serving sentences with felony convictions are eager to vote, said Julian Saucier, a criminal justice advocate based in Bremerton who championed the 2021 bill. Local lawmakers and judges have enormous power over incarcerated people, he said, but those in prison currently have no say over who's elected into those positions.
Saucier, who was formerly incarcerated for a felony drug conviction, recalled the buzz and debate between him and other incarcerated people in 2008 around President Barack Obama and his meteoric rise.
“People talked about politics a lot; it was very divided, of course, but people were paying attention and reading and keeping themselves informed,” Saucier said. “If people have a voice and if they feel like they have representation, it helps (people) feel included.”
Voting rights advocacy organizers and elected leaders will host a rally Friday morning at the United Churches of Olympia to advocate for several voting and election bills. To advance, the bill must be passed in the House by Feb. 17.
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