D.C. IS POISED TO ABOLISH FELONY DISENFRANCHISEMENT
The burgeoning national movement to abolish criminal disenfranchisement reached a major milestone on Tuesday, when the D.C. Council approved an emergency bill that would end the practice of stripping people convicted of a felony of their voting rights. If the mayor signs the bill, Washington D.C. will join Maine and Vermont as the only jurisdictions to allow all incarcerated citizens to vote.
“Expanding voting rights to persons in prison is a historic step for American democracy,” Nicole Porter, director of advocacy for the Sentencing Project, said in a statement Wednesday.
The emergency bill would immediately restore voting rights to more than 4,000 people. But it would only remain in effect for 90 days without an extension from the Council. Councilmember Charles Allen, who wrote the emergency bill, told The Appeal the council will vote on whether to adopt a measure making the change permanent as part of its budgetary process later in July.
The legislation also contains police reforms, including a ban on the use of chokeholds, tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets. But many of the provisions are weaker than those included in an earlier version of the bill that the City Council adopted in June, and which Mayor Muriel Bowser resisted.
https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/washington-d-c-felony-disenfranchisement/