State law prohibits former felons from registering to vote until the full length of their prescribed sentence has expired — even if they are not in prison and are no longer supervised by the Department of Corrections, the secretary of the state Election Board said Monday.
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American Civil Liberties Union officials said last week that former Oklahoma felons have the right to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election if they are no longer incarcerated, have completed any probation or parole requirements and are no longer under the supervision of the prison system.
But Election Board Secretary Mike Clingman said he interprets state law differently than ACLU officials and believes former felons do not regain their voting rights until the length of their original sentence has expired, even if they wind up serving less time than the original sentence and are "off paper," meaning they are no longer under supervision.
"You can be off paper before that time has expired," Clingman said. "The ACLU interpretation may not be accurate."
The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming election is Oct. 10 — 24 days prior to the Nov. 4 presidential election.
The ACLU mailed letters to election boards in all 77 counties last week outlining the voting rights of former felons after an advocacy group reported that former felons in one county were experiencing problems.
Since then, Clingman said he has received calls from county election board officials as well as individuals seeking clarification on when former felons regain their voting rights.
According to Clingman, state law says: "Persons convicted of a felony shall be ineligible to register for a period of time equal to the time prescribed in the judgment and sentence."
Clingman says that according to the law, even if a former felon regains his freedom he may still have to wait until he regains his voting rights.
The ACLU's legal director, C.S. Thornton, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The ACLU has said many former felons do not know their voting rights or have been misinformed by their county election boards.
A 2005 ACLU survey of election boards in all 77 Oklahoma counties found that officials in one county said a convicted felon was never eligible to vote again. In addition, seven counties did not know if people with misdemeanor convictions were eligible to vote. Under Oklahoma law, they are, ACLU officials said.
Only Virginia and Kentucky ban convicted felons from voting for life, officials said. Vermont and Maine allow every resident to vote — even if they are behind bars, they said.
One possible cause for the confusion cited by the ACLU is language on the state voter registration application that says if applicants are convicted felons they can register to vote only after "a period of time equal to the original sentence has expired."
ACLU officials said some county election board officials have interpreted that to mean convicted felons must complete their sentences and wait until an equal amount of time has passed before they can reregister to vote.
State Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, has said he plans to file legislation next year to clarify that language and require the state to notify felons of their voting rights as they are discharged. A proposal was approved by a House committee this year but was not heard on the House floor, Shelton said.
"I'll be happy to work with them on a bill," Clingman said. He said similar legislation has been filed in the state Senate but defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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I would urge you to look up the facts on the ACLU (& not on your favorite one-sided website) and see that everything you are apparently accusing this organization of defending is false. I doubt, however, that you will do that, considering you have a problem with finding valid information. The ACLU defends the constitution, plain and simple - nothing else. I'm not giving them credit for inventing the 1st Amendment, but for making sure it sticks around, unlike some other constitutional rights like habeas corpus and privacy. Small minds select narrow roads there Kev...try to get closer to the interstate.
And Katy, just who is "society's most vulnerable?" Is it the child being molested while pornogrophy is being filmed or the is the one filming the porn? Is the most vulnerable my fictional, crack smoking relative driving a car or is it the person they hit and kill will driving under the influence? Is it the woman being raped or the rapist? Is it the woman who wants to kill her baby or the baby that who is partially delivered so its brains can be sucked out? Come on Katy!
Katy, the 1st Amendment protects my right to post comments on the board. I'm sure the ACLU would like to take credit for drating that Amendment but they had about as much to do with that as Al Gore did with inventing internet. To your second point, it's highly unlikely anyone in my family would be convicted of having a crack pipe in our vehicle since we don't smoke crack. The "society's most vulnerable" have made CHOICES in their life that have led to their situation. Justice demands that poor choices be dealt with accordingly. But, to answer your question about a member of my family being convicted of a felony for having a pipe in their vehicle - No, I don't want them to vote. They haven't exhibited the ability to make wise decisions in life. Why should they be afforded the opportunity to make poor decisions for the rest of us?
I didn't want to start this debate, Kevin from Chickasha, but if you want a good work the ACLU has done, how about helping to protect your right to make the comments you're posting on this Web site?
And as far as ex-felons go, do you think they're all murderers and rapists? If a member of your family was convicted of a felony for having a pipe in their vehicle or something of that nature would you feel the same way? If the rights of society's most vulnerable members are denied, then everyone's rights are at risk.
Jimmy, Hendrix, no less, what does that have to do with the ACLU and voting felons? Who said I'm a Bush sympathizer anyways? He's spent entirely too much money! I can't see how anyone could be for a group that wants to say child porn is a 1st Amendment right and wants to protect terrorist at Gitmo!
Kevin in OKC, that's fine. I wish you and your brethren would move to Amsterdam and leave my wonderful country alone. If you don't like it leave! I bet the let felons vote over there. How can anyone argue that the convicted criminals in this state should have the right to vote? Are these the people we want making decisions for us?
Given a choice between a Woodstock Nation, and the fascist ideals of Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet, Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushes, I think I'd prefer the ideals of Woodstock...
Jeff, broad statements! Where are your facts? Name one "great work" the ACLU has done. Do you deny any thing I mentioned? Most Americans are either blind or dumb to what the ACLU does. And, I don't smoke anything. I'll leave that up to Barry Obama, William Clinton, and the rest of you whacko, left wing liberals. No need to refer to me as "Jesus Kevin." Kevin will do fine. Exodus 20:7 - "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain..."
Felons for Democrats! Wow - what a great campaign strategy! As if the poor and incarcerated didn't have enough trouble - now the liberals are trying to indoctrinate them into communists!
Jesus Kevin, what are you smoking? Grow up. Face the big 'ole scary world. The ACLU does great work...especially against the criminals in charge up until the 20th of January, 2009.
Let's see...New York vs Ferber the ACLU wanted to legalize child porn. It was founded by Roger Baldwin, a communist. They assist the terrorist at Gitmo. They supported Quadafi. They fight for the Pro-choice agenda but not the free speech of the pro-life crowd. They don't support the 2nd Amendment. The ACLU opposed the Minute Men who were exercizing their freedom of speech. Their acronym uses four beautiful words: American, Civil, Liberties, and Union. Those four words individually a delightful to the ears. Put them all together and you have one of the most evil organizations in the world. They have the same agenda as the terrorist, destroy the USA, just a different way to accomplish it.
Indications of hepatitus c go back at least to WWII, AIDS is thought to date back to the twenties, and 'anarchy' more accurately describes John's description of 'the perfect ACLU society.' Come to think of it, Nixon's man George Shultz advocated for legalization of all drugs, and it was in fact Reagan's South American policies that gave rise to Columbian right wing drug lords, and it was in fact Shultz who advised the right wing dictator Pinochet to 'privatize' Social Security in Chile at the point of a bayonet, and #41's policies regarding aid to African nations threw much of that continent into civil war. Sounds to me like most rethuglicans believe anything left of Attila the Hun's beliefs qualify as 'liberal.' Wonder who the convicted felon Neil Bush of the failed Siverado Savings and Loans will vote for this time around?
Republicans involved in the subprime mortgage mess and other short sellers already apparently aren't criminals thanks to Bush. Wonder after they've been in prison will they get the vote. By the way I'm not sure child molesters will vote Democratic. They're usually the folks who think the government has no business telling them how they can raise their kids (like most Republicans do). You know they're the people who say, "if the government would just stay out of our business than I could molest my kids in peace." Wife beaters also are usually Republicans most likely. They're members of the religious right who interpret the Bible as allowing the husband to kick the s_ _ _ out of his wife.
I said it before the democrats need the votes of rapists, murderers, child molesters, wife beaters, child pornographers, arsonists, kidnappers, and the general dregs of society. If there is another major shift in power to the liberal cause, most of those people listed above wont even be criminals. The "L" in aclu is for liberty. Liberty means, "the freedom to act or believe without being stopped by unnecessary force." The perfect ACLU society would be devoid of laws. Those Utopian societies long burned out after primal instincts kicked in. Just look what did in the Woodstock generation. Hepetitus, aids,
As a representative of the ACLU, I would like to add that we are not confused about the law, just the wording of the law. We agree with Mr. Clingman interpretation; we just think it should read more clearly. Also, I returned a phone call to Mr. Talley - the reporter for this story. Apparently, that was not taken into account when this was written.
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And as far as ex-felons go, do you think they're all murderers and rapists? If a member of your family was convicted of a felony for having a pipe in their vehicle or something of that nature would you feel the same way? If the rights of society's most vulnerable members are denied, then everyone's rights are at risk.