A bill that would allow inmates of prisons and jails in Oregon to vote in elections moved on Thursday toward a Senate floor vote with the approval of the judiciary committee, with Republican members voting against.
The action on the bill in the Democratic-dominated Oregon Legislature underscores how blue states are taking steps to expand voter access while red states are moving in the opposite direction.
According to the NCSL, felons lose their voting rights in 22 states only while incarcerated and receive automatic restoration upon release. Felons in 15 states lose their voting rights during incarceration and typically also while on parole or probation. In 11 states, felons lose their voting rights indefinitely for some crimes, require a governor’s pardon for the rights to be restored or require additional waiting periods or actions.
Sen. Dennis Linthicum, a Republican from the southern Oregon town of Klamath Falls, said some of the prisoners who would be afforded voting rights under the measure have been convicted of murder, assault, rape and human trafficking. “This isn’t a normal free society with debate clubs,” he said. “And so, I think restoration of all these individuals’ rights after they serve their time is appropriate — that’s the way it exists in today’s law.”
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