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S.F. No. 107 - Convicted Felons Civil Rights Voting Eligibility Restoration (First Engrossment)
 
Author: Senator Bobby Joe Champion
 
Prepared By: Chris Turner, Senate Fiscal Analyst (651/296-4350)
 
Date: March 18, 2014



 

Section 1 provides that an individual convicted of a felony is eligible to vote as soon as the individual completes any incarceration imposed and executed by the court for the offense.  It also clarifies that a person’s right to vote is not revoked upon a felony conviction for which that person is not incarcerated.

Section 2 is a conforming amendment that changes the voter registration application requirements to reflect the right of felons to vote under the circumstances provided in section 1.

Sections 3 to 6 are conforming amendments reflecting a felon’s right to vote provided he is not incarcerated, as provided in section 1.

Section 7 restricts the reporting requirement of the state court administrator to the secretary of state to persons convicted of a felony and sentenced to a period of incarceration.  Current law requires court administrator to report all convicted felons.

Section 8 is a conforming amendment regarding the use of corrections data, reflecting the changes in section 1.

Section 9 requires the secretary of state to develop an electronic publication with complete and accurate information about the voting rights of people who have been charged with or convicted of a crime.  The publication must be made available to the state court administrator for distribution to judges, court personnel, probation officers, and the Department of Corrections for distribution to corrections officials and the public.

Section 10 is a conforming amendment regarding absentee ballots.

Section 11 amends the Voter’s Bill of Rights to reflect the right of convicted felons to vote provided they are not currently incarcerated.

Section 12 is a conforming amendment to reflect the right of felons to vote under the circumstances provided in section 1.

Section 13, subdivision 1 requires the chief executive officer of each state and local correctional facility to designate an official within the facility to provide the notice and application required under this section to inmates who have had their civil right to vote restored.

Subdivision 2 requires notice of the restoration of the civil right to vote and a voter registration application be provided to inmates being released from a correctional facility following incarceration for a felony-level offense.  Requires probation officers and supervised release agents to provide the notice and application for all offenders under correctional supervision for a felony offense.

Subdivision 3 stipulates the form and content of the notice of the restoration of the civil right to vote.

Subdivision 4 provides that failure to provide notice as required by this section does not prevent the restoration of the person’s civil rights.

Section 14 is a conforming amendment stating that section 201.014, subdivision 2a (section 1 of the bill) governs the restoration of voting rights for persons whose right to vote has been lost due to a felony conviction.

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