APPA Resolution

Restoration of Voting Rights
September, 2007

WHEREAS, many citizens who have been convicted of felonies and have completed their sentences, including community supervision, do not have the right to vote; and

WHEREAS, many states have some restrictions on voting privileges for felons; and

WHEREAS, the loss of the right to vote is not based on a need to protect the integrity of the electoral process and the justice system; and

WHEREAS, disenfranchisement of felons is disproportionately affecting an increasingly large segment of the population and their families; and

WHEREAS, disenfranchisement laws work against the successful reentry of offenders;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the American Probation and Parole Association advocates the restoration of voting rights upon completion of an offender’s prison sentence and advocates no loss of voting rights while on community supervision.