new york governor andrew cuomo on wednesday signed an executive order to restore the voting rights of felons in the state. there are nearly 35,000 people barred from voting while on parole from a felony conviction.
48 states strip people of their voting rights after their felony convictions. cuomo's order allows felons to vote after completing their sentences. historically, the state legislature refused to change its policies. "i'm unwilling to take no for an answer, i'm gonna make it law by executive order and i announce that here today," cuomo said.
the executive order applies to those on parole now, and those eligible for it in the future. the state's department of corrections and community supervision will submit a list of current paroless to the governor's office. the department will also provide a monthly list of new parolees, and determine their eligibility for conditional pardons to restore their voting rights.
according to the sentencing project, there were over 6.1 million disenfranchised americans in 2016 due to felony convictions. the idea of stripping voters' rights of criminals dates back to ancient greece and rome. some american states adopted these laws around the civil war to oppress blacks. in 2016, one in 13 blacks were disenfranchised - four times the rate of other americans.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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