Assembly endorses plan to restore voting rights for ex-felons

AJR6, by Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, would change the Nevada Constitution to allow voting by felons released from prison, who have paid their victims all court-ordered restitution and are finished with parole or probation.

"This is not soft on crime," Williams said after he and other Democrats outvoted minority Republicans 27-14 Tuesday and sent the measure to the GOP-controlled Senate. "If the crime was that bad, then keep them in prison."

The bill is intended to restore civil rights to people who've paid their debt to society, he added.

But Assembly Republicans don't agree and say there is already a procedure in place for ex-felons to petition the state Pardons Board for restoration of their voting rights.

"I don't believe there is a problem with the process and I don't believe a constitutional amendment is necessary," said Assemblyman Greg Brower, R-Reno.

Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, said an ex-felon friend of hers went through the process of petitioning the state for his right to vote and found it an uplifting experience.

"The effort of going before the board and them saying 'You've done well, you're pardoned' meant so much to him," Angle said.

"Automatically restoring these rights without going through the process somehow diminishes the pardon," she added.

But Democrats said the process to win back the right vote can be too difficult. Williams said that until recently, the state had an informal policy against restoring the vote to anyone who hadn't been out of prison for more than 10 years.

Assemblyman Bob Price, D-North Las Vegas, added that most states allow ex-felons to vote after they've served their time.

"Once they come to Nevada, they lose the rights they had in other states," he said.

Before the new rules can go into effect, AJR6 will have to be approved by the Senate this session, again by both houses in 2001, and then by Nevada voters in 2002.

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