Cuomo signs law restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated people in NY

By Alyssa Wilson Published: May 7, 2021

Cuomo signs law restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated people in NY

In this March 24, 2020 photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference against a backdrop of medical supplies at the Jacob Javits Center that will house a temporary hospital in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in New York. Amid an unprecedented public health crisis, the nation’s governors are trying to get what they need from the federal government – and fast. But often that means navigating the disorienting politics of dealing with President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

By: Alyssa Wilson

On Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that will permanently and automatically restore voting rights for formerly incarcerated individuals on parole.

According to the bill’s text, officials with the Department of Corrections are required to provide a voter registration form to a person leaving a prison facility. In the past, parolees would have to wait a period of four to six weeks to receive a pardon and then register to vote on their own, CNN reported.

Donna Lieberman, the Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the action “ends a racist vestige of Jim Crow by ensuring New Yorkers on parole can exercise our most fundamental and sacred right.”

Within the state, there are disparities in arrests and prison populations.

In 2018, Black people only made up 15% of the state population, but they made up 40% of arrests and almost half of prison sentences, Spectrum Local News reported. The disparities were even higher in Albany County, where the Black population was 13% but accounted for more than 60% of prison sentences.

Lieberman says this new legislation will combat those disparities. “Decades of the war on drugs and broken windows policing have led to the disproportionate mass incarceration of Black and Latinx New Yorkers, who, on release from prison, are the vast majority of people on parole. Disenfranchising people on parole has been overwhelmingly about disenfranchising people of color. This systemic injustice has roots in our state’s white supremacist history and has, across generations, suppressed the participation of Black and Latinx New Yorkers in the most fundamental aspect of democracy: voting,” she said.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, voting rights for incarcerated individuals depend on the location. In Washington D.C., Maine and Vermont, incarcerated persons never lose their right to vote.

In 19 states, incarcerated individuals lose their right to vote only while serving their sentence. It is automatically restored after they are released. In 18 states, those serving time in prison lose their right to vote until they serve their sentence, and then wait until their parole or probation period is over. This was the law in New York before the current bill was signed.

In the remaining 11 states, voting rights can be lost indefinitely for some crimes. If restored, it is only after a pardon from the governor or after serving parole and going through an additional waiting period.

“Denying access to the ballot hasn’t been just wrong and racist; it flies in the face of evidence. Civic engagement after re-entry correlates with lower recidivism, improved community safety, and better outcomes for people on parole. Ending the regime of voter suppression for people on parole is the right thing to do. It is good for democracy and for public safety – and it’s long overdue,” Lieberman said.