S2760A-2011 Actions

• Feb 29, 2012: PRINT NUMBER 2760A
• Feb 29, 2012: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO ELECTIONS
• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO ELECTIONS
• Feb 1, 2011: REFERRED TO ELECTIONS

S2760A-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S2760

TITLE OF BILL:

An act
to amend the election law and the executive law, in relation to voting
by convicted felons

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would restore voting rights to parolees, to facilitate
community reintegration and participation in the civic process,
rather than requiring a parolee to wait until he or she has been
discharged from parole or reached the maximum expiration date of the
sentence.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision two of section 5-106 of the
Election Law to restore voting rights to individuals who have been
released to community supervision from New York state sentences
imposed as a result of New York felony convictions. Election Law
�5-106(2) bars a person convicted of a New York felony from voting or
registering to vote, and also, as currently drafted, restores voting
rights when the person is either discharged from parole or reaches
the maximum expiration date of his or her sentence. This bill would
restore voting rights while the person is serving the community
supervision portion of the sentence, so that he or she can exercise
the civic responsibility of voting. Sections two and three of the
bill make similar changes to subdivisions three and four of EL�5-1
06, which deal respectively with federal felony convictions and
felony convictions in other states.

Section 4 of the bill requires the Division of Parole to make voter
registration forms available to parolees.

Section 5 of the bill is the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

Under current law, a felony conviction imposes a variety of
disabilities, including a bar to voting, and the voting bar may be
removed only by discharge from, or completion of, the sentence as
provided in the Election Law, or by issuance of a certificate of
relief from disabilities or a certificate of good conduct under
Article 23 of the Correction Law. Certificates of relief and good
conduct may be issued to relieve eligible offenders of a variety of
different disabilities, and may be specifically limited to one or
more enumerated forfeiture, disability or bar. See Correction Law
��701(1), 703-a(1). However, these certificates are not issued
automatically, even for the limited purpose of restoring voting

rights, and some releasees supervised by the Division of Parole may
not be eligible for certificates of good conduct until they meet
statutory waiting periods. Thus, many, if not most, releasees cannot
vote until after their periods of community supervision are over.

Parole is meant to help prevent recidivism and to rehabilitate and
reinitiate a felon back into society. This rehabilitation is built on
the offender's recognition of fault, taking responsibility for his or
her behavior, and his or her effort to change. Preventing releasees
from voting, and from exercising a constitutional right and a civic
responsibility, is a barrier to full reintegration into society. It
also continues to punish people who have already served the
incarcerative parts of their sentences, and that part of their debt
to society.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2009-10: S.4643/A.2445 (O'Donnell) Referred to Elections Committee

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately, except that section 4 shall
take effect 120 days after becoming law, to give the Division of
Parole time to implement section 4.

S2760A-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 2760--A
 2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 I N  SENATE
 February 1, 2011
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HASSELL-THOMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed,
 and when printed to be committed to  the  Committee  on  Elections  -
 recommitted  to  the  Committee on Elections in accordance with Senate
 Rule  6,  sec.  8  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
 reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 AN  ACT  to amend the election law and the executive law, in relation to
 voting by convicted felons
 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section 5-106 of the election law, as
 amended by chapter 373 of the laws  of  1978,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:

 2.  No  person who has been convicted of a felony pursuant to the laws
 of this state, shall have the right to  register  for  or  vote  at  any
 election  unless  [he]:  (I)  SUCH  PERSON  shall  have been pardoned or
 restored to the rights of citizenship by the  governor,  or  [his]  (II)
 SUCH  PERSON'S  maximum sentence of imprisonment has expired, or [he has
 been discharged from parole. The governor,  however,  may  attach  as  a
 condition  to any such pardon a provision that any such person shall not
 have the right of suffrage until it shall have been separately  restored
 to  him]  (III)  SUCH  PERSON  IS  SERVING A TERM OF PAROLE, PRESUMPTIVE
 RELEASE, CONDITIONAL RELEASE OR POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION.
 

S 2. Subdivision 3 of section 5-106 of the election law is amended  to
 read as follows:

 3.  No  person who has been convicted in a federal court, of a felony,
 or a crime or offense which would constitute a felony under the laws  of
 this state, shall have the right to register for or vote at any election
 unless [he]: (I) SUCH PERSON shall have been pardoned or restored to the
 rights  of  citizenship  by the president of the United States, or [his]
 (II) SUCH PERSON'S maximum sentence of imprisonment has expired, or  [he
 has  been discharged from parole] (III) SUCH PERSON IS SERVING A TERM OF
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD05725-02-2
 
       S. 2760--A                          2
 PAROLE, PRESUMPTIVE RELEASE, CONDITIONAL RELEASE OR POST-RELEASE  SUPER
 VISION.
 

S  3. Subdivision 4 of section 5-106 of the election law is amended to
 read as follows:

 4. No person who has been convicted in another state for  a  crime  or
 offense  which  would  constitute  a felony under the laws of this state
 shall have the right to register for or vote at  any  election  in  this
 state  unless [he]: (I) SUCH PERSON shall have been pardoned or restored
 to the rights of  citizenship  by  the  governor  or  other  appropriate
 authority  of  such  other  state,  or  [his] (II) SUCH PERSON'S maximum
 sentence has expired, or [he has been discharged from parole] (III) SUCH
 PERSON IS SERVING A TERM OF  PAROLE,  PRESUMPTIVE  RELEASE,  CONDITIONAL
 RELEASE OR POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION.
 

S  4. 

Section  259-c  of the executive law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 7 to read as follows:

 7. HAVE THE DUTY TO PROVIDE VOTER REGISTRATION FORMS TO  EVERY  PERSON
 ON  PAROLE,  PRESUMPTIVE  RELEASE,  CONDITIONAL  RELEASE OR POST-RELEASE
 SUPERVISION AT THE TIME SUCH PERSON IS RELEASED  TO  SUPERVISION  OR  AS
 SOON THEREAFTER AS PRACTICABLE.
 

S  5.  This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that
 section four of this act shall take effect on the one hundred  twentieth
 day after it shall have become a law.

*By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and Privacy Policy and verify you are over 13.

Discuss!