Voting Rights Restoration: Opportunity to overturn our racist laws disenfranchising voters in NJ
On the agenda for Thursday, Nov 14 at 1pm in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
Committee Room 11, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton
There are two different bills on voting rights restoration.
– One bill is full restoration and includes people on parole, probation, and people in prison.
– One bill is partial restoration and does not include people in prison.
19 states have already passed partial voting rights restoration giving the rights to persons on parole or probation. Only 2 states Vermont and Maine have restored rights for people in prison.
A5823 Removes prohibition on voting by persons convicted of indictable offense who are on parole or probation. (https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/A9999/5823_I1.HTM)
– This bill does not include rights for prisoners. The coalition working on this campaign is currently working to see if they can negotiate on this bill. They would like full restoration. This is only partial restoration.
– This bill is currently listed on the Assembly Appropriations Committee agenda.
A3456/S2100 Removes prohibition on voting by persons convicted of indictable offense who are on parole, probation, or serving a sentence. (https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/A3500/3456_I1.HTM)
– This bill is full restoration
– Online Action through NJ Institute for Social Justice for these bill numbers for full restoration: https://actnow.io/ex3QdW6
There currently are still negotiations going on with these two bills. The social justice groups would rather see full restoration and are still advocating for full restoration.
The Appropriations Committee Meeting on Thursday is open to the public. Anyone can attend and you can also sign up for public comment section.