After a long fight, 40,000 people in Maryland just got the right to vote.
The Maryland Senate voted to override Governor Hogan's veto and allow people with felony convictions to register to vote after they have been released from prison. Until now, registration was prohibited until after parole or probation had been completed.
The vote was close— In Maryland, a veto needs three-fifths of both legislative bodies, meaning 29 senators would have to vote in favor. The vote came down to the wire, with exactly 29 votes to override. The House voted to override the bill last month.
This bill had already passed in Maryland but was vetoed by Governor Larry Hogan last May. According to the Washington Post, the Governor “argu[ed] that former inmates who are released from prison on parole and probation have not finished their sentences and should not have their right to vote restored until they do.” Luckily, the legislature disagreed .
This is the sixth veto override in just the past month. From the Washington Post:
Last month, the General Assembly voted to override vetoes on bills that dealt with public marijuana smoking and pot paraphernalia, police seizures of criminal assets, taxation of online hotel-booking services and funding to renovate an arts center in Annapolis.
[Senate President Thomas] Miller said that unlike the other five veto overrides, the felon voting bill is the only one that involves a “philosophical difference” between Hogan and the Democratic-controlled legislature."
The veto override means that about 44,000 previously incarcerated Maryland residents will be eligible to vote, although they still must register. The bill will be "particularly beneficial to African Americans, who make up 30 percent of the state’s population but account for 65 percent of those denied voting rights." It will also make a big difference in Baltimore, home to a full third of Maryland's prison population.
Discuss below.
Ed. note: At my previous job I worked on the Restoration of Rights efforts in Maryland, where I wrote about the Governor’s veto.
