A Georgia Senate study committee looking into the restoration of voting rights for nonviolent felons is recommending no changes to the current law.
Those who are convicted of any felony in Georgia cannot vote until their sentence is complete, including parole and probation.
Republican state Sen. Randy Robertson chaired the study committee, which held its third and final meeting Wednesday in Atlanta. He noted that some other states require ex-felons to file a petition to get their voting rights back. In Georgia, it’s automatic.
“Once their sentence is complete, they are right back into the mix; or they should be,” Robertson said. “They can own a firearm; they can vote; they can run for political office. So, I think we’re doing a good job here in Georgia.”
Some want voting rights restored sooner.
Robertson said he understands the desire for those convicted of felonies to reintegrate into society. But he also said those who have committed felonies give up certain rights while they serve their sentence, whether behind bars or under supervision.
“There’s nothing stopping that individual from going back into that community while on probation and parole and becoming an active part of the political process, an active part of growing the community, an active part of addressing issues such as poverty and education and crime,” he said.
He noted that victims of felonies also deserve to have their voices heard as part of the debate over felon voting rights, and said he welcomes more discussion about the subject during the upcoming legislative session.
The vote to recommend no change was 3-2, along party lines, with Robertson casting the deciding vote.
State Sen. Harold Jones, a Democrat, was also a member of the study committee. He had hoped for a different outcome.
“Well we got a lot of information, I can tell you that. We got a lot of information, which was good,” Jones said. “All the persons, all the different stakeholders, got the opportunity to come speak, which was good, which hadn’t been done before.”
Jones said he will continue advocating for change during the legislative session.
He wants to more clearly define the phrase “moral turpitude,” which currently keeps all ex-felons from voting until their sentences are complete, regardless of whether the crime was violent or non-violent.
There are currently more than 250,000 Georgians who can’t vote because of felony convictions.
Page Dukes attended the study committee meeting on Wednesday. She’s in college, but she served time for an armed robbery she committed in her early 20s. She favors allowing felons to vote, even before they leave prison.
“There are so many ways that people are barred from building better lives and from becoming more productive members of society,” Dukes said. “I keep using that phrase because it’s one that you hear so often, but we don’t realize the obstacles we place in people’s way.”
She said she wants an opportunity to vote.
“It would mean that I would get to decide who was sitting on this board and who was making this decision today,” she said.
