Bill to restore felons’ voting rights faster dies on Senate floor

A bill that would make felons automatically eligible to vote once they are released from state prison died on the floor of the Washington Senate on Wednesday after a rancorous debate.

The Senate Democrats who control the chamber pulled the plug before a final vote on SB 6228. Wednesday was the deadline for the Senate and House to pass non-fiscal policy bills that originated in their respective chambers.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, said there weren’t enough votes for passage. She said she didn’t know how many votes she lost during the debate that dragged on for more than an hour.

“It’s exceptionally disappointing, given the overwhelming evidence that this helps re-entry and doesn’t affect public safety negatively at all. It seems punitive, short-sighted and counter-productive,” she said.

Under current law, felons lose their voting rights upon conviction and regain them once they have served their prison term and completed community custody — formerly known as probation — and that can take several years.

Kuderer and other supporters of the bill said restoring the voting rights of felons after they are released from prison is consistent with the purpose of community custody, which they said is to reintegrate those convicted of felonies into society and to reduce their chances of re-offending. Kuderer noted that the Attorney General’s office and the state Department of Corrections supported the bill.

But Republicans countered that felons should not have their voting rights restored until they complete their prison time, community custody and restitution.

They sharpened their opposition by offering several amendments, including one that was approved to exempt those convicted of sex offenses from getting their voting rights restored earlier than under current law. State Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, said a former male inmate who testified in favor of the bill last year was convicted of raping a child.

“We talk about the social and emotional learning and all the things that we do to help kids that have been traumatized — and we’re doing this? And he’s the face of this bill,” Short said.

State Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, tried to amend the bill to prohibit people on community custody from getting their voting rights restored if they had been convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm in which the offender is a criminal street gang member or an associate of one.

Wagoner said the two suspects in the mass shooting last month in Seattle that killed one person and injured seven others would have their voting rights restored under the bill. Combined, the two men have more than 60 arrests and over 35 convictions, he added.

“I don’t think that’s the kind of people that we want making decisions about who their leaders are and what the policies of this state are,” Wagoner said.

In defeating Wagoner’s amendment, state Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, said there’s no correlation between the right to vote, criminal activity, and public safety.

“This, unfortunately, is based on the old Jim Crow laws that were part of this country’s history,” said Dhingra, who was interrupted by several Republicans shouting “point of order.”

Short told the President of the Senate, Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib, that the reference to Jim Crow “was very inappropriate.” Habib said he didn’t hear what Dhingra said because he was handling another matter. He asked that all senators “stay within the boundaries of this policy.” Dhingra said she was finished with her speech.

Republicans later offered an amendment to prohibit persons convicted for a serious violent offense from being registered to vote before their release from community custody. That amendment was rejected.

State Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, said the bill was flawed. “If you’re going to go home and say, ‘rape a child and you can’t vote. Shoot a child, you get to vote.’ How do you explain that to your constituents? How do you explain that to the people of Washington state?”

Shortly after the bill died, Kuderer vowed to try to get it passed next year when the Legislature convenes its 105-day session.

“I understand that this is a game of persistence and patience, and I do think that it’s the moral thing to do, the right thing to do. This disenfranchisement is rooted in discrimination and until we come to terms with our past and how we have treated minorities, we’ll never be able to deal with race issues in our country,” she said in an interview.

This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.