Minnesota Senate passes bill to restore voting rights to felons

Last campaign season, volunteers showed up at Kevin Reese's door, hoping to count on his vote in that election. He had to turn them away. As a felon who spent nearly 15 years incarcerated and was released a few years ago, he is barred from voting.

"I felt like a criminal all over again," Reese said. "I was ashamed to say that I can't vote because it comes with the 'why can't you vote?'"

The Minnesota Senate passed a bill 35-30 Tuesday to restore voting rights to convicted felons immediately upon completion of their incarceration. The House passed the bill 71-59 earlier and Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign it.

Under the bill, the state would join 21 others where felons regain the right to vote upon their release. Under current state law, those released from jail or prison must wait until they're off probation and have paid their fines to regain their voting rights.

Those who are no longer in prison and live in the community, pay taxes and are raising families should be able to vote, said Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis.

"We know that in the state of Minnesota right now we have more than 55,000 of our friends, neighbors and family members who are not allowed to vote," Champion said, referring to the population of felons on parole or probation. "They should have the right to vote."

Several churches, community groups and political organizations have publicly supported the change, as has Secretary of State Steve Simon. The change in law would begin July 1.

Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled that barring felons from voting does not violate the state constitution. The opinion pointed out that the Legislature has the power to change it to address the public policy concerns.

Senate Republicans raised amendments to the bill that would have excluded perpetrators of certain crimes such as rape or murder from the right to vote. Other amendments included instating a two-year probationary period after release before felons regain the right to vote, or a requirement that fees and restitution are paid prior to voting. The amendments did not pass.

Supporters view fee and restitution requirements as poll taxes that disproportionately impact communities of color. Nine percent of Native and 6% of Black Minnesotans have felony convictions compared to 1% of white Minnesotans.

As a small business owner, Wintana Melekin, co-chair of the Restore the Vote coalition, said she felt good about being able to give her employees the day off for election day. She was surprised, she said, when one employee declined during the 2018 midterms, preferring to work rather than be the only person without a red "I Voted" sticker.

"That was very painful for me, as someone who has been working on voting rights policy for a decade ... I felt embarrassed as a business owner," Melekin said.

In prison, Reese became an organizer and founded Until We Are All Free after his release. The organization supports former prisoners upon release to help them on their feet. The right to vote will be a key piece of that toolkit, Reese said.

"I think being able to give folks their right to vote, it gives us a reason to be responsible consistently," Reese said. "It's easier to get folks to buy into the collective with that right."