PROPOSITION 17 – Our Own

[vc_empty_space height=”24px”][qodef_custom_font font_family=”Poppins” font_size=”56″ line_height=”67″ font_weight=”400″ letter_spacing=”-2″ text_transform=”capitalize” text_align=”left” content_custom_font=”PROPOSITION 17.” color=”#0a0a0a”][qodef_custom_font font_family=”Poppins” font_size=”36″ line_height=”67″ font_weight=”900″ letter_spacing=”1″ text_transform=”capitalize” text_align=”left” content_custom_font=”Allowing parolees the right to vote” color=”#0a0a0a”]

WHAT WILL IT DO?

Restore voting rights to state prisoners released on parole. Currently, voting rights are not granted until the full court-ordered sentence is served.

CONTEXT:

Eligibility for parole is dependent on the crime and the age the crime was committed. Inmates may become automatically eligible or request a hearing for parole. A parole board is the committee that determines if the prisoner can be conditionally released, and in some cases can weigh in on the rules the inmate must follow. The average parole term is about three years, however, they can be much longer depending on the circumstance.

ARGUMENTS FOR:

Over 40,000 Californians on parole would be allowed to vote on policies and decisions that affect their daily lives. Parolees are able to have jobs and pay taxes on their wages and property, and can even run for seat in congress, yet are not allowed to vote on policies that impact them. Withholding political power from parolees is not a public safety issue, it is a way for a racially biased justice system to further exclude minority voters.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST:

Felons on parole may have been convicted of heinous crimes including murderers, voluntary manslaughter and rape. Individuals on parole have not yet “paid in full” for their crimes. The Election Integrity Project California argues that “an individual on parole has not regained the full trust of the society at large, nor the privilege to participate as a full member of that society.”

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