JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators advanced bills Monday to give voting rights back to 32 people convicted of felonies, weeks after a Senate leader killed a broader bill that would have restored suffrage to many more people with criminal records.
The move is necessary due to Mississippi’s piecemeal approach to restoring voting rights to people convicted of felony offenses who have paid their debts to society. It also reflects the legacy of the state’s original list of disenfranchising crimes, which springs from the Jim Crow era. The attorneys who have sued to challenge the list say authors of the state constitution removed voting rights for crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit.
To have voting rights restored, people convicted of any of the crimes must get a pardon from the governor or persuade lawmakers to pass individual bills just for them, with two-thirds approval of the House and Senate. Lawmakers in recent years have passed few of those bills, and they passed none in 2023.
Tiger Woods FINALLY reveals the three stars joining his TGL team next year
In Pics: Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games
Lantern Festival Celebrated Across China
Celine Dion reveals she wore a coat for 'nerve
In Pics: Awarding Ceremony of 2,000m Short
China Focus: China's Population Continues to Grow in 2021
Shanghai Promotes Community Libraries
Abortion returns to the spotlight in Italy 46 years after it was legalized
In Pics: Awarding Ceremony of 2,000m Short
NASA finds new mutant bacteria in SPACE
Pema Tseden's posthumous film 'Snow Leopard' shines with spiritual depth