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NEW YORK, NY -- March 10 -- Today, Nebraska will join 36 other states in supporting the right to vote as it passes legislative bill LB53, which will lift its permanent ban on voting by people with felony convictions. This legislation will automatically restore the right to vote to people with felony convictions two years after they complete a prison sentence or finish terms of parole or probation. The Nebraska Legislature approved LB53 by wide margins in three separate votes. However, on Wednesday March 9, 2005, Governor Dave Heinemann vetoed the bill. Nebraska's unicameral legislature responded with a 36-11 override. According to Nebraska Department of Corrections, nearly 59,000 formerly incarcerated people may be able to have their rights restored because of this legislation. Senator Dianna Schimek, who championed the bill, said, "Restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions is only fair and reintegrating them back into society benefits all Nebraskans." Under current law, a pardon is required before a person with a felony conviction can vote again. Pardons aren't granted until at least 10 years after a sentence is completed. A report recently released by the Sentencing Project a national partner of the Right to Vote Campaign ranks Nebraska close to the bottom among states (just ahead of Mississippi, but behind Alabama) in restoring voting rights. According to that report, since 1992 only 343 formerly incarcerated Nebraskans have had their voting rights restored. The Nebraska law change leaves five states that permanently ban all former felons from voting and another eight states that lock some former felons from the polls. The change also makes Iowa the only state that wasn't part of the Old Confederacy that still disfranchises individuals regardless of felony convictions for life (AL, FL, KY, VA are the other states). A recent comprehensive national study by Jeff Manza of Northwestern University and Christopher Uggen of the University of Minnesota shows that ex-offenders who vote are less likely to return to prison. "This is yet another great win for our democracy and the movement to end felony disfranchisement across the country," stated Rashad Robinson, of the Right to Vote Campaign, which assisted in this effort. For more information on restoration of voting rights, please visit http://www.righttovote.org. The Right to Vote Campaign (http://www.righttovote.org) is a national coalition of seven major civil rights and public interest organizations (ACLU, Demos, Brennan Center for Justice, MALDEF, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, People for the American Way and Sentencing Project) working to end felony disfranchisement. ###
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