Oregon: State Diminishes 'More Liberal than Most'

In March, a law was passed further disenfranchising Oregon residents. Thousands of individuals in Oregon's county jails are now ineligible to vote due to a new provision of House Bill 3638. Oregon law does not allow those incarcerated individuals to vote, but does restore voting rights to those on probation. "Previously, it was just individuals in the Department of Corrections" who couldn't vote, said Brenda Bayes, the deputy director of the state Elections Division in a Statesman Journal article. "This bill in the 2008 legislative session expanded that to also include felons in the custody of county jails. You can still register to vote, you just can't vote while you're incarcerated." According to the article, 35,000 formerly incarcerated individuals and probationers are allowed to vote, in addition to about 600 psychiatric and forensic patients at Oregon State Hospital who were charged with felony offenses.

National: Thousands Forced to Leave Voting Rights by the Wayside

PBS's News Hour dedicated a segment to disenfranchisement in its "Vote 2008: The Primaries" coverage. Interviews with disenfranchised citizens and individuals whose rights have recently been restored, delved into the emotional, political and legal issues surrounding felon voting rights. "People participate in the voting process when they feel like they are one of the stakeholders," said New Jersey resident Omar Shabazz who is on lifetime parole. Individuals on parole in New Jersey are banned from voting.. "Felon disfranchisement affects not only the individual whose vote has been taken away, it's not just what voting rights lawyers call a vote-denial claim. It's also a vote- dilution claim," said Juan Cartagena. "That relative political power is taken away from the neighbors of persons who come back home, from their family members. Their relative collective voting strength is wiped off the map almost."

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Contact Information: e-mail: zjennings@sentencingproject.org, web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

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