BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: SB 631 HEARING DATE:
4/21/09
AUTHOR: WALTERS ANALYSIS BY:Darren
Chesin
AMENDED: 4/2/09
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Voting: felons
DESCRIPTION
The California Constitution provides that a United States
citizen 18 years of age and a resident in this state may
vote and that the Legislature shall provide for the
disqualification of electors while mentally incompetent or
imprisoned or on parole for the conviction of a felony.
Existing statutory law similarly provides that a person is
eligible to register to vote in California if he or she is
a United States citizen, a resident of California, not in
prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, and at
least 18 years of age at the time of the next election.
Existing law generally allows persons who are subject to a
felony sentence by a court to be released on "probation"
which means the suspension of the imposition or execution
of a sentence and the order of conditional and revocable
release in the community under the supervision of a
probation officer.
Existing law prohibits probation, unless in the interest of
justice stated in the record, for persons who are convicted
of specified crimes, which include various weapons
violations, crimes where great bodily injury occurs, and
specified second violations. Various other statutes
prohibit or restrict probation for other specified crimes.
This bill would additionally provide that a person on
probation for conviction of a felony is also ineligible to
register to vote in California and, commencing in 2011,
would require county elections officials to cancel the
voter registration for these probationers upon notice from
the clerk of the superior court.
BACKGROUND
Felon Voter Eligibility in Other States . According to the
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and
ProCon.org, individuals with felony convictions are barred
from voting as follows:
30 states bar convicted felons who are in prison, on
parole or on probation from voting (this bill would
include California in this category).
5 states (including California) bar convicted felons who
are in prison or on parole from voting.
13 states and the District of Columbia bar convicted
felons who are in prison from voting.
2 states (Maine and Vermont) do not bar convicted felons
from voting even while they are in prison.
COMMENTS
1.Should Persons on Probation Be Prohibited From Voting ?
Probation may be granted by courts if the interest of
justice would best be served and the purpose of probation
is generally described as rehabilitation. Generally
speaking, probation occurs for the conviction of first
offenses and less serious felonies. Should the
fundamental constitutional right to vote, be denied to
individuals that the legal system has determined can be
safely returned to the community on probation?
2.Prior and Related Legislation . This bill is similar to
AB 677 (Conroy) of 1996 which died on the Senate
Appropriations Committee suspense file. This provision
is also found in SB 370 (Runner) which is also pending
before this committee as well as AB 1308 (Hagman) and AB
1415 (Adams) which are pending in the Assembly Committee
on Elections and Redistricting.
POSITIONS
SB 631 (WALTERS)
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Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: All of Us or None
American Civil Liberties Union
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Drug Policy Alliance Network
Equal Justice Society
Free Battered Women
Families to Amend California's Three Strikes
Justice Now
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San
Francisco Bay Area
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
National Employment Law Project
Ordain Training Center
SB 631 (WALTERS)
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