Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Senate hears bill on voting rights for felons in Nevada

Legislature Opens

Lance Iversen / AP

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson opens the legislative session, Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, in Carson City.

A bill at the Legislature would make it possible for some of the tens of thousands of disenfranchised Nevada residents to make it back into the voting booth.

Assembly Bill 181 would generally restore the right to vote and serve on a civil court jury to people convicted of nonviolent felonies. The proposed law applies to those who are released from prison as well as those discharged from probation or parole.

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that his bill is intended to use taxpayer dollars effectively while encouraging offenders to reintegrate into society.

“I want to be clear,” Frierson said. “AB181 is not designed to be soft on crime or cut anyone a break.”

Most states automatically reinstate the rights of felons to vote after they complete their sentence, parole or probation. Felons are never disenfranchised in Maine and Vermont.

“This bill would actually bring us into the mainstream,” Frierson said. “It wouldn’t put us ahead of the curve, it wouldn’t leave us behind, it would put us right in the heart of what other states are doing.”

The bill passed out of the Assembly on May 19 with a 29-13 vote and is now making its way through the Senate.

Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed a similar bill in 2011. “The right to vote is a privilege that should not lightly be restored to those few individuals who commit the most egregious crimes in our society,” Sandoval wrote in a letter vetoing the measure.

“Assembly Bill 181 is an attempt to revisit that subject, taking into account that there are some crimes that are worse,” Frierson said.

Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, who chaired the Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections, which sponsored the vetoed legislation in 2011, said Frierson’s bill addresses the concerns that the governor had at the time.

The ACLU, which supports the bill, says there are more than 89,000 disenfranchised Nevada residents.

Clark County’s defense attorneys and prosecutors were among those to speak out in support of the measure. No one spoke in opposition on Wednesday.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy