Felons deserve voting rights

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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In one of the most significant voting expansions in recent memory, the Minnesota Legislature has rightly opted to restore voting rights to those no longer incarcerated.

The bill, voted on by the House, then the Senate, and which Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign, could bring some 55,000 Minnesotans back into the voting pool, moving them closer to fully re-engaging with society.

That's a dramatic change from Minnesota's existing law, which mandates that felons complete their prison sentences and all of their probation, which can stretch for years and vary greatly depending on the jurisdiction. The law is one that disproportionately affected Black and Native Minnesotans. An estimated 9% of Native Minnesotans have felony convictions, along with 6% of Black residents. That's compared to 1% of white Minnesotans. Nationally, 1 in 19 Black Americans is disenfranchised, a rate 3.5 times that of non-Black Americans.

Minnesota will now join 21 other states that allow felons to vote after they've been released. The change will start this July and be in place for the next presidential election.

In an earlier interview with an editorial writer, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon put the figure at closer to 66,000 Minnesotans who had already served their prison sentences but remained unable to vote. Simon earlier this year called restoration of the vote a top priority of his.

"It is long past time," Simon told an editorial writer at the time, "for legislators to change the law and once again make it possible for Minnesotans to rebuild their lives and rejoin our democracy."

The state Supreme Court recently ruled that barring felons from voting is not unconstitutional but noted that the Legislature could change the law.

Justice Paul Thissen, writing for the majority, carefully noted that every court member agreed that voting was a fundamental right. "But the people of Minnesota have the power to define in the Constitution who can and cannot vote," he said. He also noted in the opinion that the court was aware of the "troubling consequences, including the disparate racial impacts" of the current law but said the proper remedy would be a legislative one.

We agree and applaud the Legislature for taking the necessary steps to re-enfranchise tens of thousands of Minnesotans who have paid their debt to society through their prison sentences.

Probation, ideally, is about the process of rehabilitation and of successfully reintegrating former lawbreakers into society. The restoration of voting rights is an essential marker for those who wish to reclaim their status as productive citizens. Little appears to be gained from holding them in a yearslong limbo in which they cannot decide who will represent them.

It should be noted that, contrary to popular belief, those on probation can be found in every county in the state, not just clustered in large cities. About 70% are white, according to a 2020 state report. At last count, Hennepin and Ramsey counties had only about a fifth of those on probation.

After the Senate passed the bill, House author Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, noted that although he was disappointed by the Supreme Court's ruling, "it was affirmation that the Legislature needs to set the standard for reinstating people and their inclusion to our shared democracy."

It should be remembered that those who reoffend may go back to prison, and their right to vote would once again be suspended. But for the vast majority who do not, voting is a tangible sign that they once again count.