BILL NUMBER:A10217
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the election law, in relation to allow-
ing parolees the right to register for and vote at any election
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To allow parollees the right to vote
and register for elections.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1. Subdivision 2, 3, and 4 of
section 5-106 of the election law, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter
373 of the laws of 1978 are amended. The amendments give an individual
on parole the right to vote and register for elections.
JUSTIFICATION: The Brennan Center for Justice released a report titled,
"Jim Crow in New York," which traced the history of New York's felony
disenfranchisement law and revealed that its roots are firmly planted in
some of the most discriminatory voting barriers to exist in our country.
The report clarifies that Jim Crow laws were not confined to the South.
In fact, during the 18th century, New York's election laws clearly
followed the national narrative. New York's criminal disenfranchisement
provisions followed a concerted effort to exclude African Americans from
participating in the political process.
Today, the voting bar in our State's constitution is nearly identical to
the one enacted 140 years ago. And these discriminatory laws continue to
have their intended effect, with African-Americans and Latinos repres-
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
10217
I N A S S E M B L Y
March 11, 2010
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENJAMIN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to allowing parolees the
right to register for and vote at any election
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivisions 2, 3 and 4 of section 5-106 of the election
law, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, are
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 shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of
citizenship by the governor, or his 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.
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 shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of citizen-
ship by the president of the United States, or his maximum sentence of
imprisonment has expired[, or he has been discharged from parole].
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 shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of
citizenship by the governor or other appropriate authority of such other
state, or his maximum sentence has expired[, or he has been discharged
from parole].
S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16208-01-0
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