Friday, May 5, 2017 | 2 a.m.
CARSON CITY — A bill that seeks to restore voting rights for certain felons is drawing diverse support from groups including the Washoe County Public Defender’s Office.
Sen. Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, presented the bill Thursday in the Assembly Corrections, Parole, and Probation Committee. He said data from 2010, the most recent available, shows that about 4 percent of Nevada’s voting-age population is ineligible to do so.
Ford said that number is disproportionately made up of those in poverty and people of color.
“We have right-leaning organizations and left-leaning organizations sitting right next to each other, advocating on behalf of something that frankly is a bipartisan issue, and has been becoming one more and more over the course of the last few years,” he said.
Senate Bill 125 has been amended to include restoring the right to serve on a civil or criminal jury. The Senate passed the amended version in a 12-9 vote and sent it to the Assembly.
Republicans led the no votes. Sen. Becky Harris, R-Las Vegas, said before the bill’s passage that there are several pieces of legislation that deal with some of the issues in SB125, and that she was voting no until a broader discussion could be had to reconcile the differences.
No one spoke in opposition during the Thursday hearing.
The committee has until May 19 to keep the bill alive and pass it onto a floor vote.
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