By a narrow vote, the Maryland Senate on Tuesday overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of legislation that restores voting rights for over 40,000 ex-felons.
In Maryland, ex-felons were barred from voting until they finish their probation or parole, but with Tuesday’s 29-18 Senate vote, they are now given the right to vote immediately after they are released from prison.
The Democratic-controlled General Assembly has now overturned all six of Hogan’s vetoes from last year. Hogan is a first-term Republican governor.
“We are encouraged by state officials who are reconsidering unfair disenfranchisement policies; 23 states have enacted reforms since 1997. This reform offers an opportunity to strengthen the democratic process and we hope this will be followed by a commitment to notify impacted persons that their voting rights have been restored,” Nicole Porter, advocacy director at the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit criminal justice reform group, told the Washington Examiner.
According to the Sentencing Project, there are nearly 6 million Americans disenfranchised because of laws prohibiting voting by an individual with a felony conviction, and nearly one of every 13 African Americans are unable to vote.
The Maryland Senate and House had passed slightly different versions of the voting rights bill last year, which were both vetoed by Hogan. Last month, the House of Delegates voted, 85-56, to override Hogan’s veto of the House bill.
Tuesday’s veto means the new law will take effect March 26, a month before the state’s April 26 presidential primary.
In May, Hogan wrote about his veto to Maryland’s House Speaker, Michael E. Busch, a Democrat, arguing that a felon on probation or parole could violate the conditions imposed and possibly return to prison and become a felon once again.
